LONDON, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of children with a gambling problem in Britain has quadrupled to 55,000 in just two years, the Gambling Commission said Wednesday.
According to an audit by the commission, the problem gamblers, aged 11 to 16, often bet with friends, slot machines, and scratchcards.
It also found that 70,000 youngsters were at risk and 450,000 children bet regularly - the equivalent of one in seven children aged 11 to 16.
The audit, reported by many local media, said the youngsters stake an average of 16 pounds (about 20.5 U.S. dollars) per week on fruit machines, bingo, betting shops and online - all of which are all illegal for under-18s.
The report also revealed that children were being inundated with gambling adverts, with two-thirds saying they had seen them on TV. Close to a million young people had been exposed to gambling through "loot boxes" in video games or on smartphone apps, it added.
Loot boxes are chance-based items that can be purchased in video games to win prizes and have been likened to poker machines.
The findings were branded "deeply concerning" by the Church of England, which warned that the country needed to take the "dangers of gambling seriously".
The bishop of St Albans, the Right Reverend Alan Smith, said the findings is a "generational scandal", calling for the government, local authorities, schools and charities to put in place more safeguards to protect children from becoming problem gamblers.
