Children are spending more cash on soft drinks than they are on games and toys, according to new figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has crunched the numbers to lay bare what youngsters spend their pocket money on.
They found that after school dinners and clothes, soft drinks was the biggest outgoing for children aged seven to 15 years-old.
They spent on average 91 pence a week on guzzling soft drinks – far higher than the 77 pence a week they spent on games and toys.
More than half (56 per cent) of seven to 15-year-olds bought at least one soft drink every fortnight – usually having it on the way home.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has crunched the numbers to lay bare what youngsters spend their pocket money on
And the older a child is the more likely they are to buy soft drinks – with 75 per cent of 13 to 15-year-olds bought at least one soft drink a fortnight.
While almost half (48 per cent) of children spent money on confectionery, which includes chocolate, during the fortnight.
The revelations come as fresh evidence suggests hat processed foods – including fizzy drinks – significantly raises the risk of cancer.
While sweets and confectionery was the eighth biggest outgoing for children – just behind computer games and consoles.
The ONS looked calculated the spending habits of seven to 15 year-olds by asking a group of youngsters to keep a diary of everything they spent their cash on.
This included their pocket money, cash gifts and their wages from jobs like a paper round or babysitting.
Looking at the data from 2015 to 2017 they found that 15 year-olds spent an average £25 a week, while seven year-olds forked out just £7.40.
Girls and boys spend around the same amount of cash until they hit aged 12,but in their teenage years girls tend to spend more.
And boys and girls also spend their money on different things – with girls tending to spend more on toiletries.
Boys of all age ranges spent less than 10 pence per week on toiletries and cosmetics, with only 2 per cent buying at least one of these items, compared with 17 per cent of girls.
The older a child gets the more the spend on products to make them look good, the figures show.
They found that seven-to-nine-year-old girls spent 20 pence a week, rising to £1.70 for girls aged 13 to 15 years.