(Image source from: Moms.com)

Young children who devote more than half an hour a day on the internet are virtually twice as likely to annoy their parents for junk food, according to a study.

The study, which surveys the relations between diet and advertising of junk food on the internet and television, questioned children and their parents.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool and Cancer Research United Kingdom surveyed nearly 2,500 seven to 11-year-old's and their parents around the UK about their pattern of eating and how much screen time they had, outside of undertaking homework.

The outcomes show that primary school children who spent more than three hours on the web were more than four times more probable to spend their expenses on chocolate, crisps, sugary drinks and ready-made meal than their peers who browsed for less than half an hour.

These children were likewise 79 percent more likely to be overweight or obese whereas those who were online amid 30 minutes and three hours a day were 53 percent more expected to be carrying surplus weight than those who were online for a smaller amount.

"Young children who spend more time on the internet and watching commercial TV are more likely to pester for, buy and eat unhealthy food and drinks," said Emma Boyland, a lead researcher from the University of Liverpool.

"Parents are all too familiar with being nagged for sweets and fizzy drinks in the supermarket or corner shop.

"Our research shows that this behavior can be linked to the number of time children spend in front of a screen and as a result, the increased number of enticing adverts they see for these sorts of products," Boyland said.

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The study found that, averagely, children were online for 16 hours a week - not counting time spent for homework - and watched 22 hours of television per week.

The amount of workout done by the children had no influence on the outcomes, showing that for this research, excess weight was not connected with being inactive.

Each additional hour of commercial TV that children watched was linked with an augmented likelihood of pestering their parents to purchase products they had seen advertised.

They were four times more probable to purchase chocolate and over three times more likely to buy sugary drinks if they watched more than three hours of commercial TV every day compared to youngsters who did not watch as much and 59 percent more likely to be obese or overweight.

-Sowmya Sangam