Prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children and relationship to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and waist circumference - PubMed (original) (raw)

Prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children and relationship to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and waist circumference

Kunihiko Tominaga et al. Environ Health Prev Med. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children and its relationship to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and waist circumference (WC).

Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional, case-control study. Cases were selected among students of a primary and junior high school, respectively, and age- and sex-matched control subjects were selected randomly (ratio of cases to control subject was 37:113).

Results: Of the 846 students, aged between 6 and 15 years, enrolled in the study and screened by ultrasonography, 37 children were diagnosed as having NAFLD (score >/= 1). There was a significant sex difference in the prevalence of NAFLD(P = 0.003). The trend test revealed a strong dose-response relationship (P < 0.001) between pediatric NAFLD and the number of the proposed components of pediatric metabolic syndrome in Japan (MetS-JC), such as a clustering of the components of MetS-JC. Additionally, the linear trend of the odds ratios (ORs) with increasing percentile of the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was statistically significant (P < 0.001). However, when WC was added to the logistic model, the ORs were no longer significant, whereas WC turned out to be an independent risk factor for NAFLD regardless of the HOMA-IR index.

Conclusion: The prevalence of NAFLD in children and adolescents is closely related to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and WC.

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Figures

Fig. 1

Fig. 1

Receiver operating characteristic curves of waist circumference (WC), waist circumference/height (WC/H), and body mass index (BMI)

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