Pediatric associations in Brazil are mobilizing to keep online betting prohibited nationwide, citing severe risks to child development and household financial stability as legal battles unfold in the Supreme Federal Court.
The Brazilian Society of Pediatrics and the Brazilian Academy of Pediatrics plan to submit a formal document this week to the Supreme Federal Court and the National Congress. The medical entities argue that fixed-odds betting platforms impair impulse control and proper evaluation of consequences among children and adolescents.
Families caught in the practice risk severe indebtedness, which often diverts essential resources away from food, education, and health. The organizations point to recent conclusions from the World Health Organization regarding harmful gaming and betting patterns.
The debate centers on Provisional Measure nº 1.394/2026, signed in September by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to prohibit the operation, offering, intermediation, and advertising of fixed-odds betting across Brazil.
Minister Luiz Fux of the Supreme Federal Court granted a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office to suspend all lawsuits challenging the betting ban until the full court rules on the measure’s constitutionality.
Betting companies had previously turned to lower federal courts to overturn the restrictions, securing a temporary injunction in São Paulo before the Regional Federal Court of the 3rd Region revoked it at the request of the Attorney General’s Office.
“Atentos a la discusión de la Medida Provisoria nº 1.394/2026, que prohibió la explotación, la oferta, la intermediación y la publicidad de apuestas de cuota fija en el país, los pediatras piden participar en audiencias públicas sobre el tema en el Congreso Nacional,” said the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics.
The pediatric groups intend to present formal data during upcoming congressional committee hearings as the legal and legislative review continues.
