The study links childhood factor to the risk of colorectal cancer

Your past can turn to bite you in the butt – literally.

A new study suggests that a major factor in early life can increase your risk of developing colorectal cancer as an adult.

The findings add to an increasing research body trying to determine what is promoting alarming growth in colorectal cancer among Americans under 50 over the past three decades.

“Although the relationship between adult body size and the risk of colorectal cancer is well documented, the potential impact of body size measures during early life is less understood,” said Dr. Dieuwertje KOK, Associate Professor of Nutrition and Cancer at Wageningen & Research University.

To get to the end, KOC and her colleagues analyzed 37 studies following how weight, height and size of the body in childhood and adulthood can affect your risk of colorectal cancer later in life.

They found that for young adults aged 18-25, any five-point increases in the body mass index (BMI) over the healthy range raised the risk of colon cancer by 12%.

For adolescents between 10 and 19, that risk ascends between 5% and 18%.

Even young children are not safe – a high BMI in children as young as two were associated with a greater risk.

And here is the hit: every extra kilo (2.2 pounds) at birth above the “normal” birth weight – this is 2.5 to 4 kilograms, or 5.51 to 8.82 pounds – was associated with a 9% greater chance to develop colorectal cancer below the road.

“Cancer is a complex disease that develops over several decades, so the best meaning of its early origin is essential for the most effective efforts of preventing and understanding research gaps,” said Dr. Helen Croker, Assistant Director of Research and Policy at the World Cancer Research International Fund.

“The results of this study show that the increased index of body mass throughout childhood through adulthood is an important risk factor for colorectal cancer,” she added.

Colorectal cancer has long been associated with the elderly, especially people over 65 years old. But levels between those under 50 have been dragged out since the 90s.

In fact, if you were born between 1981-1996, you face twice the risk of colorectal cancer compared to people born in 1950, according to the University of California Davis Health.

Scientists suspect that ultra -processed foods and certain diets are major drivers after increasing colorectal cancer in American youth.

A study of the “Western diet”-which is rich in fat and low in fiber-with an imbalance of intestinal bacteria, causing inflammation that ages cells faster and makes them more prone to cancer.

Another found that low calcium intake is associated with one in five deaths of colorectal cancer in people 35 and younger.

Junk ultra processed such as ice cream, chips and soda are also shown to increase the risk and weaken the body’s ability to fight the disease.

Our bed potato habits are not helping. A 2019 study found that young adults watching more than two hours of TV a day have a 70% higher risk of developing colon cancer than those who see less.

Chronic conditions also play a role. Research suggests that people with non -alcoholic fatty liver disease – mainly caused by overweight, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol – are nearly 24% more likely to receive colon cancer.

Inflammatory intestinal disease, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have also been shown to increase the risk.

But here is the scary part: colorectal cancer is emerging in young people, healthy, active without apparent risk factors. For them, the culprit can be genetic or hidden environmental causative.

One study found that a toxin from some E. coli bacteria called colibactin leaves a unique sign of DNA in colon cells in children exposed to it. These mutations were 3.3 times more common in cases of early onset than in older patients.

In another study, researchers found a fungus called cladosporium – which usually causes skin and nail infections – in new colorectal cancer tumors. Scientists are not sure how it causes the disease, but can damage DNA.

A gene called HMGA1 can also hold the answer. The research suggests that it acts as a “key” that returns the regions of DNA that control the source stem cells. When overloaded – due to stress, mutations or weak diet – it can lead to tumor growth and help cancer delete from the immune system.

As scientists compete to discover the causes of early early colorectal cancer, young American young people continue to be diagnosed at alarming rates.

Worse still, young adults tend to be diagnosed later – when the disease is more advanced and more aggressive tumors.

This has helped colorectal cancer the main cause of cancer death to US men under 50, and the second deadly for women in the same age group.

In response, the US preventive service task reduced the recommended age of 50 to 45 to 2021 for medium -risk adults.

In 2025, the American Cancer Society estimates about 154,270 adults in the US will be diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer – and approximately 52,900 will die from it.