UK Health Official: Betting Shops are Making You Fat

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

This week a UK health official voiced her opinion that betting shops are the chief cause of the country's obesity epidemic, as the shops leave punters without money and thus unable to afford to purchase healthy food.

Rachel Flowers, the director of public health in London made the shocking claim, which comes as nearly 30% of the country's population is obese, and less than half are at a healthy body weight. No proof of her claim has been given, which may be a bit hypocritical as the health profession often relies on scientific proof to make decisions for patient care.

Betting shops and fixed odds betting terminals have been controversial in the UK, as gambling opponents have criticized them as being predatory and the "crack cocaine" of the gambling industry as detractors claim they are addictive.

About the author

Dustin Jermalowicz // News Editor
Dustin Jermalowicz
Dustin has a long-standing passion for gambling. He has been writing professionally on the subject and breaking industry news for Casino Listings since 2011. His favorite casino games include Blackjack, Poker, and Hi/Lo. A proud native of Detroit, Dustin currently lives in Michigan.
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auCL-Ed
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2 May 2016 - 1:10am
#1

Does it not follow that spending money on absolutely anything - like repaying your mortgage or car loan - makes you fat because it leaves you without enough money to buy healthy food? What a silly thing to say without any evidence to back it up.

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3 May 2016 - 7:23pm
#2

Yeah that is a hilarious statement, I've had a good laugh reading that. If the statement was that modern people as a whole spending too much time in front of their PC's instead of some physical activities outdoors and gambling is a part of this problem it would be a reasonable argument I think but that's just nonsense

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