Demanding children are costing their parents more than £1,000 a year in expensive clothes and must-have accessories for the playground, a survey has revealed.
MP3 players, mobile phones and handheld games consoles sent the cost of bringing up a child soaring, the poll found.
When clothes were included, children carried items worth £223 to school, the survey found.
The total annual cost of equipping a child for school reached £1,033.70.
Nibs Dearsley, marketing director at Cartoon Network, which commissioned the survey, said: "The pressure to blend in and keep up with fashions and new developments at school is greater than it has ever been before.
"Today's parents are expected to fork out for a multitude of gadgets and their offspring are very savvy when it comes to choosing branded clothing and accessories."
The survey found that parents spent an average of £73.45 a year on school uniform.
Three-quarters of parents bought their children a new school bag or satchel every year at an average cost of £8.20.
Trendy portable accessories such as mobile phones, handheld games consoles and MP3 players - as well as jewellery and watches - sent an average school child's "bling value" up to £76.05.
Lunch and other snacks cost an average of £2.35 per child every day and more than a third - 36% - of parents said they gave their children at least 50p a day to spend in the tuck shop or vending machine.
