Children may have an increased risk of becoming overweight or obese if their parents are divorced, a new study suggests.

This risk is particularly apparent among boys, according to the findings.

Researchers in Norway looked at over 3,000 children attending 127 different schools. The average age of the children was eight and each had their height, weight and waste circumference measured.

The children were separated into groups depending on whether their parents were married, never married (including living together), single, separated or divorced.

The researchers found that overall, 19% of the children were overweight or obese, with significantly more girls in this category than boys.

However, they also found that more of the children whose parents were divorced were overweight or obese compared to the children of parents who had remained married.

In fact, the children of divorced parents were 54% more likely to be overweight or obese and 89% more likely to be abdominally obese. Abdominal obesity, also known as central obesity, has been strongly linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

Meanwhile, the study also found that the children of parents who had never married had a similar overweight/obese risk as the children of married parents, suggesting that the effects of a divorce on a child could play an important role.

The risk was greater among the boys of divorced parents, who were 63% more likely to be overweight or obese compared to the boys of married parents. They were also 104% more likely to be abdominally obese.

The researchers said there may be a number of reasons why divorce plays a role, for example, there may be less time spent on cooking and an over-reliance on convenience foods and ready meals.

"The emotional fall-out of a divorce and resulting stress generated by disruptions in the parent-child relationship, ongoing conflict between the exes, moving home and the need to create new social networks, might also explain the findings. And boys might just be more vulnerable," the team from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, BMJ Open.