Cancer rates among people aged 25 to 29 have increased faster than any other age group over the past three decades, a new analysis by the Financial Times showed.
Catch up: In the G20 group of industrialized countries, cancer rates for people between the ages of 20 and 34 are higher than they’ve been in three decades.
- Overall cancer rates have increased by 29% since 1990 among 15- to 39-year-olds, and cases of certain types of cancer have grown even faster: prostate cancer is up 95%, kidney cancer is up 88%, and colorectal cancer is up 70%.
Why it’s happening: Researchers can’t say with certainty what’s causing the spike, but another study published last year pointed to environmental and lifestyle factors early in people’s lives as a likely culprit.
- Its authors speculated that modern Western diets and lifestyles could be one of the main causes of early-onset cancers.
- They noted that cancer rates began ticking up in younger people born after the 1960s when most people in wealthy countries began eating more highly processed foods and doing less physical activity.
Yes, but: Older people still make up the vast majority of cancer cases, with 90% found in people over the age of 50.
Zoom out: The lifestyle and diet factors that may be driving the growth of early-onset cancer are also associated with other chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension that afflict 44% of Canadian adults.
Bottom line: The way we live doesn’t seem to be doing wonderful things for our health.