New research suggests that teenage boys are more susceptible to the lure of fast food than girls, The Australian Associated Press reported.

A survey, released by the Cancer Council and the National Heart Foundation, found that almost one-third of boys are likely to buy fast food if it is linked with movies or sports personalities they like, compared to just 19 percent of girls. It also revealed that 40 percent of boys will patronize a fast food outlet if they are offering a special product or giveaway, compared to 30 percent of girls,

This may also explain why teenage boys consume more fast food, salty snacks and sugary drinks than girls and were also more likely to be obese or overweight, Cancer Council's Kathy Chapman told the Australian Associated Press.

"A barrage of increasingly sophisticated junk food marketing is undermining teenage boys' longer-term health, highlighting the urgent need for measures to protect them," Chapman said. "Fast food companies invest tens of millions of dollars in advertising during programs watched by teenagers because mass-media advertising works."

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from nearly 9,000 students at 196 different secondary schools gathered in 2012 and 2013, Munchies reported.

To remedy this, Chapman suggests junk food advertising to be curbed during TV programs that are popular with teenagers, and to be restricted before 9 p.m.

"There's also a need to see more government investment in healthy eating campaigns and the importance of having a healthy weight," she said. "But we also have to make sure these sorts of healthy eating messages are not drowned out by a proliferation of junk food marketing."

The findings were presented at Cancer Council's Behavioral Research in Cancer Control Conference.