Australia has the highest rates of bowel cancer among young people in the world, according to new findings published in a top medical journal this week.
Research conducted by the American Cancer Society and published in The Lancet compared rates of bowel cancer in people under 50 and over 50 in 50 countries around the world.
Australia has the highest rate of early-onset bowel cancer, with 16.5 people diagnosed per 100,000 population each year.
The reasons for the development of colon cancer in young people are still uncertain.
The authors of the Lancet paper speculate that shifts in diet, including increased consumption of red and processed meat, sugar and convenience foods, and increasingly physically inactive lifestyles among young people in high-income countries may be contributing to the generational increase.
On the other hand, increased awareness and national screening programs, such as in Australia, can help reduce the rate of diagnosis in older people.
