American Cancer Society researcher Rebecca Siegel, who led the study, said that earlier work had signaled a growing incidence of colorectal cancer among the groups known as Gen X and millennials. But the magnitude of the increase identified “was just very shocking,” she said, as was the finding that the underlying risk of colorectal cancer appears to be rising.
The study, which included scientists at the NCI, didn’t determine the reason for the shift. But Siegel suggested one explanation might be a complex interaction involving the same factors that have contributed to the obesity epidemic — changes in diet, a sedentary lifestyle, excess weight and low fiber consumption.
Continue reading: Colorectal cancer rates rising sharply among Gen X and millennials
Commentary by The Secular Jurist: This news supports what I’ve been preaching to young people for a long time – unsuccessfully, I might add:
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables.
- Eat more whole grains.
- Avoid fast food and processed foods.
- Cut down on your intake of animal fats, salt, and especially sugar.
- Above all, learn how to cook!
The Secular Jurist 
The pace of today’s life seems to contribute to the “fast food” epidemic … which, in turn, leads to the problems you pointed out. Of course, the hormones and other junk that’s injected into so much of today’s food doesn’t help matters either.
And then you consider how many kids are brought up on sugary cereals …
It’s no wonder people (of all ages) are experiencing more health problems today.
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True, though colorectal cancer rates continue to decline for my Baby Boomer generation. Our diet, generally speaking, is much healthier than that of younger people.
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Learning how to cook should be a compulsory requirement
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I think so too.
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Then it needs to be that 12 hours days are not a standard expectation to make enough money to ‘live’ (as distinguished from just survival).
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learned to cook and I enjoy it. But that is not the norm, and standard working conditions don’t exactly leave people in a position whereby that’s what they want to do…
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The shortage of time in our complex daily lives certainly has some merit and it is the most offered excuse for poor dietary habits. However, I don’t buy it. It’s all a matter of personal choice. People either value their health or they don’t. When I was in the workforce and heavily burdened with time constraints, I still weened myself off crappy food because doing so was very important to me. I discovered, to my surprise, that the art of home-cooking wasn’t as problematic for my lifestyle as fast food junkies would have us believe.
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What I’m saying is that it takes a harder commitment — especially to start the habit and learning it, if you haven’t already — than it should be.
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Yes, I agree – the culture has changed dramatically.
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