Charli XCX marks the return of The Powerpuff Girls

New survey also shows modern girls are busting age-old stereotypes of being pink and girly.

The Powerpuff Girls make their return to Cartoon Network today (Monday April 25), backed by pop star and ambassador Charli XCX.

The pop star helped relaunch the characters and show this morning with a special photoshoot in London.

In addition, a new survey of 7-15 year olds to mark the return has shown that modern girls are busting the age-old stereotypes of being ‘pink and girly’.

Results showed that 84% of girls loved sport, with one in ten girls practicing martial arts and almost two thirds saying playing video games was one of their favourite activities.

The study also revealed that girls prefer football to netball, with 29% of girls saying it was a game they loved playing or watching.

A decade after the original series of The Powerpuff Girls ended, blue was the most popular colour for over half of girls (53%), while 8% of boys said pink was one of their favourite colours.

58% of boys and girls would prefer to be a superhero than a prince or princess.

The survey also showed that girls are growing in confidence and self-worth – on average, a quarter of boys (23%) thought that they were ‘worth’ more than girls, but fewer than 5% of girls agreed with that statement.

However, from the age of 14-15, girls’ perception of themselves drops, with triple the number agreeing with the statement that boys are worth more than them.

The Powerpuff Girls ambassador, Charli XCX, said: “I remember when I was 15 and having all kinds of crazy things going on in my brain. As a young girl, that age can be a time of self-doubt, a time where you let your insecurities show, a time where you’re basically just a bit unsure.

“Strong role models are super important during those phases of anyone’s life.

“The Powerpuff Girls are 100% the strongest and coolest kind of role models to have around. The show flips gender stereotypes on its head and is accessible and fun for kids but also for people my age. I used to love it when I was younger but I feel like I’m even more obsessed with it now. I see myself in the characters for sure! As all girls should.

“Strong, fierce, sassy and cute are all the best ways to be, and we all have that deep down inside us even if we don’t quite realise it yet.”

The Powerpuff Girls launches exclusively on Cartoon Network on April 25 at 6.15pm and airs every weekday night.