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The amount of time children spend watching screens has risen dramatically, researchers have found.

They say children aged five to 16 spend an average of six and a half hours a day in front of a screen - compared with around three hours in 1995.

Additionally, they say the screen has changed - and say tablets are set to oveertake TVs within two years. 

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According to market research firm Childwise, teenage boys spend the longest, with an average of eight hours.

Eight-year-old girls spend the least - three-and-a-half hours, according to the study.

Screen time is made up of time spent watching TV, playing games consoles, using a mobile, computer or tablet.

The Connected Kids report, compiled by market researcher Childwise, has collated data from 1995 to the present day to create a comprehensive picture of children's media habits.

It found the dominance of watching a television set as a childhood pastime is likely to end within the next two years - with youngsters likely to be spending more time online for the first time ever.

'This is the first time we have analysed data from the last 20 years of the annual Childwise Monitor surveys to predict the progression of technologies and their usage,' says researcher Matthew Nevard.

'This groundbreaking report uses the wealth of historic data we have on children's media usage to identify trends and theorise how children's media engagement is likely to develop over the next few year,' adds Matthew.

Children are also now multi-screening - using more than one device at the same time, for example, watching TV while surfing the internet on a tablet or mobile so some of the screen time will be concurrent.

Future generations of children are also more likely to watch content, such as TV programmes, on a tablet, or even a phablet (a tablet-style mobile phone) than they are a traditional television set, laptop or PC, the study said.

'Soon children will expect to stay connected at all times – everywhere and anywhere. 

'This is likely to influence how willing they are to participate in trips out and family holidays.'

YouTube is the most popular on-demand service with more than half of respondents accessing TV and video via the site since 2013.

Paid-for on-demand services, such as Netflix, have also risen rapidly in recent years and are expected to continue to grow in popularity.

'The internet is pivotal to their lives and they are now able to access a wealth of content,' Nevard told the BBC.

The internet has given children more freedom to explore their own interests rather than being tied into the content offered to them from the TV schedules or magazines.

'They can find the content that they want,' he said.

The study describes connectivity as 'a fundamental need for young people now'.

'Children now don't remember a time before the internet,' said Mr Nevard.

Each year the report surveys around 2,000 children, aged five to 16.

It finds that teenage girls now spend an average of seven-and-a-half- hours watching screens, compared with 3.5 hours of TV viewing in 1995.

Younger children fare slightly better - in 1995, five to 10-year-olds averaged around two-and-a-half-hours of TV - compared to 2014, when screen time has risen to four-and-a-half hours.

The report also says the internet of things - where household objects communicate and share data - will be regarded as normal, it suggests.

'Having appliances which cannot be controlled using a smartphone or some kind of online dashboard may be seen as outdated, or at least increasingly rare,' the report concludes.

It also thinks that most children will have some form of wearable technology, be it a smart watch, smart glasses or a virtual reality headset.

It also predicts the death of the bedroom TV, finding a decline in the proportion of children with TV sets in their bedroom, from around 80% of 7-16s in 2004 to 60% in 2014. 

'Children and young people can now watch content in their own room on other devices, such as laptops and tablets. 

'This trend is set to continue over the next few years..