Radio 4's You and Yours discusses why boys are struggling with reading.

The Save the Children Fund has enlisted the support of footballer John Barnes to promote the message that boys need to have positive male role models to encourage them to take an interest in books.

A survey carried out for the children's charity provides more evidence of the growing gap between girls and boys' reading abilities, claiming that boys at the age of seven are on average 7% behind girls in reading levels.

The study of reading habits of seven to 11-year-olds found that boys were twice as likely to be reluctant readers than girls.

John Barnes is promoting the campaign to raise boys' reading abilities

Interviews with families found that boys wanted a father or father figure to help them read and that many fathers wanted to help, but the survey says parents often "don't know where to start when it comes to reading".

"A good place to start might be reading the sports pages of the newspaper together to get the ball rolling," said Lina Fajerman of Save The Children.

The publication of the survey accompanies the launch of a booklet, Read Me Another, Dad, which encourages fathers to help their three to five-year-olds to learn to read.

Among the recommendations made by the charity to help boys to improve reading would be to allow them to read non-fiction as well as fiction. Boys are believed to be more ready to read factual material - such as about football or cars - rather than story-based books, which girls favour.

The former England footballer, John Barnes, a father of two sons, said that "as a dad I know just how difficult it can be to get your boys reading".