Can you dump the junk this June?

A quarter of Scots have named chocolate as their favourite junk food.

The new survey conducted by World Cancer Research found 25 per cent of Scots would find chocolate hard to give up along with 14 per cent finding it hard to stop chips and 14 per cent said biscuits were the hardest junk food to give up.

Now, the charity is encouraging Scots to Dump the Junk in June by giving up their favourite junk food.

The survey also revealed that in the UK more than a quarter of Brits 27 per cent have named chocolate as their favourite junk food, with a third of women picking the sugary snack as their ultimate guilty pleasure.

Top of the list for men was chips, with nearly a quarter 23 per cent naming chips as their favourite junk food. The research also revealed that when it comes to how often Brits are indulging in their naughty nibbles, 86% admitted to eating their favourite junk food up to five times a week.

World Cancer Research Fund has launched its new campaign, Dump the Junk, to encourage people to give up one of their most unhealthy vices, such as eating chocolate, chips or crisps.

By taking part in this campaign they hope that people will start to feel the benefits from eating a healthier diet – just in time for the summer - as well as raise funds 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.

Eating too many calories can lead to weight gain and evidence from World Cancer Research Fund shows that being overweight or obese increases the risk of 11 common cancers such as bowel and breast cancer.

In fact, after not smoking, being a healthy weight is the most important thing a person can do to reduce their cancer risk - around 25,000 cancer cases could be prevented in the UK every year if everyone was a healthy weight.

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.

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 that nearly 95 per cent of Scots 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?”