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** 31 August 2022
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** UK
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** Children of problem gamblers ‘more likely to be bought scratchcards’ (#1)
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** Tory council leader criticises ‘disappointing’ response from government over inflation concerns (#2)
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** International
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** South Korea study: Increased alcohol consumption is associated with increased cancer risk (#3)
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** UK
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** Children of problem gamblers ‘more likely to be bought scratchcards’
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Children whose parents are problem gamblers are more likely to have been bought scratchcards, according to research from the GamCare charity, which is warning that early exposure risks setting young people on a pathway to addiction in later life.

More than a third (38%) of Britons who were problem gamblers had bought scratchcards for their children, compared with 22% of those who had a low-level problem, 8% of non-problem gamblers and 5% of non-gamblers, according to a YouGov survey of more than 4,000 UK adults and more than 500 14- to 15-year-olds commissioned by GamCare, which runs the National Gambling Helpline.

Alexa Roseblade, a senior programme manager at GamCare, said scratchcards can “often be an entry point into other forms of gambling”, despite the fact they rarely account for problem gambling, with just 4% of callers to the helpline citing scratchcards.

Roseblade warned: “The YouGov data highlights that the path to a gambling problem can start much closer to home than people may realise. It shows how young people are much more likely to be exposed to items such as scratchcards if a parent is already engaged in harmful gambling, and this may normalise other forms of gambling behaviours later down the line.”

One in seven (14%) parents said they had played games with their child in which they bet sweets or pennies on the outcome, a figure that jumps to nearly half (45%) of problem gamblers.

When asked how likely it was that their child would bet on sporting events when they were legally old enough to do so, 35% of parents who are problem gamblers thought it was likely, compared with 7% of non-gambling parents.

Source: Guardian, 29 August 2022
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** Tory council leader criticises ‘disappointing’ response from government over inflation concerns
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A prominent Conservative city council leader has lashed out at a government minister’s “disappointingly short response” to her letter calling for extra funding to help councils meet inflationary pressures.

Earlier this year, Stoke-on-Trent was awarded £56m from three levelling up fund bids, but City Council leader Abi Brown (Con) is growing increasingly concerned about the government's response to the inflationary pressures the sector is facing. Cllr Brown wrote a three-page letter to levelling up secretary Greg Clark last month outlining nearly £10m in extra budgetary pressures facing the city.

She told the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) she was “disappointed” with the response she received back from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities minister Paul Scully, calling it “one page of A4 that I could have written myself”.

A DLUHC spokesperson said: “The minister responded in full and the department stands ready to speak to any councils that have concerns about the impact of inflation on their budgets.”

Brown told the LGC that the energy cap rise represented just “one of any number of strands all related to inflationary challenges at the moment [...] Are the government actually seeing that bigger picture, are they actually just responding to particular trigger points? The energy price rise is incredibly concerning…like everybody else, local authorities will be paying energy bills themselves and my concern is also for my residents. But it is part of a wider piece, asking the government 'can they see what is happening in terms of how you continue to run as a sector with all these pressures'?”

Source: Local Government Chronicle, 30 August 2022
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** International
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** South Korea study: Increased alcohol consumption is associated with increased cancer risk
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People who increase the amount of alcohol they drink face an increased risk of cancer, according to the results of a large study of over 4.5 million participants in South Korea published on Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. The study found that people who increased the amount they drank had a higher risk of all cancers, including alcohol-related cancers, than the group that made no changes to their drinking habits. The risk also increased for non-drinkers who changed their habits and became mild, moderate or heavy drinkers.

The study also found that reduced consumption of alcohol, for example from ‘heavy drinking’ to ‘moderate’ or ‘light’ drinking levels, was associated with a reduced risk of alcohol related and all cancers. Study authors from Seoul National University Hospital said: “[…] if abstinence was maintained over time, the incidence of alcohol-related and all cancers tended to decrease.”

The American Cancer Society (ACS) calls alcohol use “one of the most important preventable risk factors for cancer, along with tobacco use and excess weight.” According to the organisation, alcohol consumption accounts for about 6% of all cancers in the United States and 4% of cancer deaths.

Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, told CNN: "I think it's very important that folks realise that heavy alcohol use can significantly increase the risk of cancer [...] Unfortunately, although this is not a new finding, this information would be very surprising to many. It is imperative that physicians inform patients of this risk and provide whatever tools are necessary to help patients modify this behaviour."

Source: CNN News, 24 August 2022
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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