Children are spending an average of 23 hours a week on smartphones and other gadgets - twice as much time as they spend conversing with their parents, polling suggests.

The survey of 2,000 families with children below the age of 14 found that on average they were spending 3 hours 18 minutes a day on personal devices.

By contrast, they were found to be spending 1 hour 43 minutes a day engaged in conversation with members of their family.

The polling follows new advice from the chief medical officer, which urges parents to take more control over their children’s digital habits, and ban smartphones from family meals, and from bedrooms at night.

The survey found four in five parents said they had tried to persuade their children to spend less time on their personal devices. And two in five admitted to giving children devices in order to keep them occupied.

Overall, children were found to be spending an average of 23 hours a week isolated on their mobiles, tablets and games consoles at home, almost double the 12 hours they spend conversing with their parents.

The polling, carried out by CensusWide for music streaming company ROXI, found 54 per cent of parents worry that their children are missing out by spending too much time isolated on their devices.