Prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and its Clinical Characteristics in Overweight and Obese Children in the South East of Iran, 2017

Background: During the last decade, lifestyle changes considerably leading to an increase in non-communicable diseases such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) accounted as the most common cause of chronic liver disease in children. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence and clinical characteristics of NAFLD overweight and obese children. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. A total of 200 overweight and/or obese children aged 12 to 18 years were enrolled by a multistage sampling method. All participants underwent an abdominal ultrasound after six hours of fasting. Beside liver function tests, lipid profile, and fasting blood glucose were measured after 12 hours of fasting. Results: The NAFLD was reported in 108 individuals (54%). The prevalence of NAFLD was significantly higher in obese children compared to overweight ones (69.1% vs. 35.6%, P < 0.001). The logistic regression results show that there was a significant relationship between age, sex, and BMI and the prevalence of NAFLD (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The results indicate that NAFLD is present in approximately half of the overweight and/or obese adolescents. Therefore being overweight and/or obese could be considered as main risk factors in development of NAFLD.