Bowel cancer is rising in lower- and middle-income countries, and this study finds that the share linked with diet increased across all 21 countries examined. What we eat may be part of a changing regional health story. Colorectal cancer ranks third in incidence and second in mortality worldwide.

Its incidence was estimated at 1.8 million new cases in 2018 and is projected to increase by about 60 percent by 2030. In low- and middle-income countries, colorectal cancer has shown an increasing trend. In the Middle East and North Africa, its incidence, mortality, and years of healthy life lost are all substantial.

To make sense of diet, picture a weekly shopping basket. The study treats the basket as a set of possible risks: more red meat, and too little fiber, calcium, milk, or whole grains. Fiber is counted from familiar sources including grains, fruits, legumes, and vegetables, among the dietary factors examined in this study.

It also includes processed meat, along with calcium supplied by familiar foods such as cheese, milk, and yogurt in the diet. The study uses information organized by country, age, and sex from 1990 to 2019. It covers the Middle East and North Africa as a region of 21 countries.

That broad view presents data by country across the MENA region, which includes twenty-one countries in the overall study. The diet-linked burden was higher in Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Bahrain than in other countries.

It was also higher among people aged 75 to 79 and older. The death rate linked with diet-related risk increased for both men and women in Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Palestine, and Sudan from 1990 to 2019. Across the region, that diet-linked death rate was higher among men than women.

Across Middle Eastern and North African countries, the health burden and deaths from colorectal cancer linked to diet rose between 1990 and 2019, affecting men more sharply than women. The burden is greatest among people aged seventy-five to seventy-nine and older.

The comparison has limits. Screening programs changed over the past 30 years, and some countries with weaker health systems may not have complete cancer registration. Still, studying 21 countries provides regional data and allows comparisons among countries.

The study says that diets high in milk, fiber, whole grains, and calcium, and low in red meat, are associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer in Middle East and North African countries. In practical terms, the suggested direction is more fiber and dairy products, and less red meat, as a strategy for preventing colorectal cancer.

The study links higher bowel-cancer burden with diets lower in fiber, milk, whole grains, and calcium, and higher in red meat. That points toward prevention through more fiber and dairy foods and less red meat, while recognizing the data's limits.