A RECENT survey conducted as part of the World Cancer Research Fund’s ‘Dump the Junk’ campaign has revealed Wales’ favourite junk foods.
Chocolate has been listed as the overall winner of the battle of the junk foods, with 28% of survey participants voting in its favour.
A third of women picked the sugary snack as their ultimate guilty pleasure.
Top of the list for men was chips, with 23% naming the treat as their favourite type of junk food.
Coming a close joint second for the nation’s favourite junk food was burger and chips, which both managed to score 22% of the votes.
Similarly, it was revealed that 32% of Welsh people would find chocolate the hardest junk food to give up, closely followed by chips, which got 28% of the votes.
86% of Welsh people admitted to indulging in their naughty nibble of choice five times per week.
World Cancer Research Fund has launched its new campaign, Dump the Junk, to encourage people to give up one of their favourite junk food items to see a marked improvement in their overall health whilst raising money for cancer prevention.
Those taking part can ask friends and family to sponsor them, donate the money they save from cutting out their vice or they can pay a fine if they decide to cheat.
The campaign has been launched just in time for Cancer Prevention Week between Monday (May 9) and Sunday (May 15).
Evidence has uncovered that being overweight or obese can increase the risk of the 11 most common cancers, such as bowel and breast cancer.
Apart from being a non-smoker, being a healthy weight is the most important thing that a person can do to reduce their risk of getting cancer.
It is thought that approximately 25,000 cancer cases across the UK could easily be prevented if everyone was a healthy weight.
Sarah Toule, Head of Health Information at World Cancer Research Fund, said: “Many people don’t realise how much sugar, fat and salt can be found in a lot of the food they eat on a daily basis, and it’s not just the usual suspects.
“These ingredients are particularly bad for us and can lead to people becoming overweight or obese which increases the risk of cancer.
“Our survey showed over 90% of Welsh don’t think that an addiction to sugar is why it’s hard for them to give up their favourite sugary junk food.
“However, continuously eating sugary food and drinks will gradually lead to a dependency on sugar. So why not Dump the Junk and kick that habit this June?”
Cutting 100 calories from a daily diet, the equivalent of one and a half digestive biscuits, could cumulatively prevent an extra stone in body weight a year.
The World Cancer Research Fund has healthy recipes to try if people need some inspiration swapping some of their usual treats.
Add Comment