Cancer Research UK chose May 5 (5/5/05) to launch its Fiver Day campaign to show how a family of five can eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day for £5.

The campaign came following the charity’s survey which showed 75 per cent of people in the UK are not eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables.

The survey was carried out by NOP World of 4,000 UK men and women and also showed that two-thirds of people are unaware of the link between low fruit and vegetable intake and cancer.

Women are better than men at eating their 5-a-day and the likelihood of people eating five or more portions per day increases with age. Less than 20 per cent of people aged 15-24 eat the recommended daily allowance of fruit and vegetables, compared with more than 33 per cent of people aged over 55.

Fiver Day forms part of the charity's new landmark campaign - Reduce the Risk - which aims to raise awareness of how lifestyle changes can lessen the chances of being diagnosed with cancer.

Dieticians at Cancer Research UK have developed easy budget recipes for Fiver Day. These include: home-made healthy pizza, stir-fry and vegetable curry. There are also top tips on how to get five a day and budget shopping guides showing that it is cheaper to snack on healthy foods than it is to munch on biscuits and crisps. The recipes are available on www.reducetherisk.org.uk.

Fiver Day was targeted are regional press and received coverage with the placement of case studies, figures and press releases despite the dominance of the general election in newspapers.