TODDLERS in the region are designer clothes-wearing sophisticates who spend more time looking at TV and PC screens than playing outside, according to research published today.

The 21st Century Toddler Survey, commissioned by Mother and Baby Magazine, is the largest study carried out into the lifestyle of the nation's toddlers.

Karen Pasquali Jones, editor of Mother and Baby Magazine, said: "Today's toddlers act like tiny teenagers - they've been there, done it and got the T-shirt - but they miss out on good, old-fashioned, imaginative fun."

"Working mums and dads try to compensate for their lack of time by buying their toddlers the latest gadgets, TVs, computers and enough toys to last a lifetime.

"Their wardrobes are packed with designer clothes and they are carted from one paid-for activity to the next because parents are terrified they will fall behind their peers if they don't attend classes."

Seventy-nine per cent of the North-East's under-threes wear designer clothes, compared to a national average of 65 per cent, and 92 per cent of mothers admit they spend more on their children's clothes than their own.

They are also the youngsters most likely to be signed up with a modelling agency - 15 per cent compared to six per cent nationally.

Toddlers in the North-East who have access to a computer spend an average of two-and-a-half hours a day playing on it and two hours watching TV.

Forty-six per cent have a television in their bedroom and eight per cent have their own computer.

Over-stimulation can lead to behavioural problems and 49 per cent of North-East parents say their toddler throws a tantrum several times a day.

However, they are least likely to have smacked their children - 46 per cent, compared to a national average of 57 per cent - and when their toddler throws a tantrum, they simply leave him or her to get on with it.