Prevalence and Predictors of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Obese and Overweight Children in the Northwest of Iran

Abstract

Background: Over recent decades, with the increase in the prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity, the prevalence of pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has increased. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of NAFLD and its predisposing factors in overweight and obese children of Urmia, Northwest of Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 843 children aged 2 to 19 years were recruited out of 10800 children referred to the Digestive Disease Clinic of Shahid Motahari Hospital during 2016-2017. Anthropometric and laboratory measurements and abdominal ultrasound were performed for the children. Demographic data and their medical history were collected by a questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression was used to predict the predisposing factors of NAFLD. Results: Fatty liver was diagnosed by ultrasound in 9.5% of overweight and 21.4% of obese children. The prevalence of NAFLD in obese children was 9.26% for the 2-5.9-year age group, 22.3% for the 6-11.9-year age group and 35.5% for the 12-19-year age group. Compared to the normal liver group, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) [95% confidence interval (CI)] for predictive factors of NAFLD were as follows: ALT

The burden and sexual dimorphism with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Asian children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The search identified 735 references and 127 papers were selected for full‐text review. Finally, 31 articles 14‐44 describing 33 study populations fulfilled the criteria and included in the systematic review and pooled analysis (Figure 1). All the articles were published after 2004, and before April 28, 2021.…”

“…The features of the 31 studies 14‐44 were provided in Table 1. Eighteen studies in Eastern Asia (15 from China, two from Japan, one from Korea), 11 studies in Western Asia (five from Iran, five from Turkey, one from Israel) and two studies in Southern Asia (two from India).…”

The Prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Iranian Children and Adult Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Table 1 shows the feature of selected studies. Of 20 articles, 12 articles assessed NAFLD in adults ( 19 – 29 ), five studies in obese children ( 30 – 34 ), and three studies in children ( 35 – 37 ). One study was cohort ( 28 ), and the remaining were cross-sectional ( 19 – 27 , 29 – 37 ).…”

“…One study was cohort ( 28 ), and the remaining were cross-sectional ( 19 – 27 , 29 – 37 ). Regarding the quality of included studies, nine studies were considered high (score more than 6 for cross-sectional and more than 9 for cohort studies) ( 20 , 24 – 26 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 36 ).…”

Relationship of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Serum Level of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) in Normal Reference Range

“…On the other hand Gheibi et al, [10] showed that an increase of 10 U/L in ALT, AST and ALK increased the odds of NAFLD 101%, 127% and 2%, respectively. An increase of 10 mg/dL in TG was associated with an 8% increase and also 10 µIu/mL of TSH with a 55% increase in the odds of NAFLD [10].…”