People in Wales are the least aware in the UK that having a poor diet increases the risk of cancer, according to a survey by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

The charity said, after not smoking, eating a healthy diet and being physically active are the most important ways to reduce the risk of cancer.

ITV reports the survey found only 55% of people in Wales are aware of the link between a poor diet and cancer.

Dr Lee Parry, from the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute at Cardiff University, said eating less processed foods and more fruit and vegetables, especially dark fruits and berries, can help prevent many types of cancer and even kill some cancer cells.

He said “In the UK alone we have about 40,000 new cases of bowel cancer every year and about 20,000 deaths. We estimate that about half of those could’ve been prevented if people just adopted a healthier lifestyle. That’s a dramatic reduction in figures…The way diet can work is to actually be toxic to those cancer cells whereas not to your normal healthy cells. There’s an impact for diet beyond just preventing, we can use it to help people with cancer as well.”