BRITAIN’S kids have become a nation of 'Screenagers' who spend more than FOUR MONTHS of the year glued to TVs, computers, phones and video games.

As energy company npower launches No Power Hour to encourage kids to switch off technology for one hour per day, it finds that square-eyed children spend nearly NINE hours every day - or the equivalent of two and a half days a week - staring at their mobiles whilst texting, playing on handheld games consoles and surfing the net.

Yet despite all of the gadgets at their disposal, the TV still grabs their attention the longest – they slump on the sofa watching the box for 19 hours every week – as well as giving kids ‘square eyes’ all these tempting technologies are energy draining too.

Clare McDougall, education programme director from npower, which carried out the research of 3,000 teenagers to reveal their day-to-day screen viewing habits, said: ''The summer holidays are traditionally a time when you expect kids to be outdoors playing with their pals, but the lure of technology has made it harder to get young people to switch off.

“We found that three quarters (76 per cent) of kids aged just seven years-olds have a TV in their room – that’s 20 per cent more than children of 16 years - it’s no wonder they struggle to put down the remote.

''We’ve launched the npower Climate Cops No Power Hour in an effort to show that it’s easy to switch off, unplug and press pause on technology and try something different instead.

“Kids are spending nine hours a day hooked up to technology but there are plenty of great alternatives for their No Power Hour, and we’ve a few ideas to inspire at www.npower.com/climatecops.”

The study of 7-16 year olds found they look at screens on average for eight hours and 54 minutes each day - which totals 62 hours or just over two and a half days every week.

This equates to ten straight days a month, which is 120 days or over FOUR months a year.

Four in ten of the children asked admitted to spending the majority of their time in their bedroom because all of their favourite gadgets are in there with a trusted telly, PC, DVD player topping the list of must-have bedroom items

Eight in ten feel the wrath of their parents at least three times a day, nagging them to get off the sofa and get some fresh air, not easy when two thirds would ‘feel lost’ without their phone and gadgets.

McDougall added: “The call of the screen is hard to ignore for British children.

“Whether they’re on the bus, at home or in the back of the car kids look for every opportunity to tune into technology, preferring time indoors to getting out and about with their friends or family.

‘’The summer holidays are nearly over and they’ll soon be back in the classroom, they should make the most of their break and try something different, even for just an hour a day.’’