Obesity, diabetes and cancer rates are rising among young adults in US

Obesity and diabetes rates among young adults in the United States are on the rise, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Over an 11-year period from 2009 to 2020, diabetes rates for adults ages 20 to 44 rose from 3% to 4%, and obesity rates increased from 32.7% to 40.9%.

Hypertension rates among that age group also moved slightly higher, from 9.3% to 11.5%, but the authors noted that the change isn’t statistically significant.

The rise in some of these health risks for Americans varied by racial and ethnic group.

“Black young adults had the highest rates of hypertension over the study period, and increases in hypertension were observed among Mexican American and other Hispanic adults, while Mexican American adults experienced a significant rise in diabetes,” the study stated.

Black adults in the age bracket had a 45.4% obesity rate, compared with 38.8% of white adults.

Based on these findings, the authors concluded that Black and Hispanic individuals may have elevated cardiovascular risk factors.

The researchers studied 12,924 U.S. participants ages 30 to 44. The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention also aided in data collection.

“The national increases in diabetes and obesity among young adults in the U.S. have major public health implications,” the authors of the study wrote. “These results highlight the need for public health and clinical interventions, especially as these risk factors can affect lifetime rates of heart attack, stroke and heart failure.”

The CDC says that people who are overweight or obese are at a greater risk of mortality and of diabetes, stroke, heart disease, certain cancers and mental illness, as well as other serious health conditions.

Report shows ‘troubling’ rise in colorectal cancer among US adults younger than 55

Adults across the United States are being diagnosed with colon and rectal cancers at younger ages, and now 1 in 5 new cases are among those in their early 50s or younger, according to the American Cancer Society’s latest colorectal cancer report.

The report says that the proportion of colorectal cancer cases among adults younger than 55 increased from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019. There also appears to be an overall shift to more diagnoses of advanced stages of cancer. In 2019, 60% of all new colorectal cases among all ages were advanced.

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