prevalence and predictors of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese and overweight children in the northwest of iran

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: 1.05 (1.03 - 1.09), alk: 1.02 (1.01 - 1.03), ast: 1.04 (1.02 - 1.08), triglycerides: 1.1 (1. 08 - 1.21), tsh: 1.18 (1.1 - 1.40), fbs: 1.04 (1.01 - 1.08) and homa-ir: 1.19 (1.03 - 1.38). compared to the age group of 2 - 5.9 years, the odds ratio of nafld was increased by 4 and 8 times in the age group 6 - 11.9 and 12 - 19 years, respectively. conclusions: there was a strong relationship between pediatric nafld and alt, ast and homa-ir in the overweight and obese children. our findings emphasized the importance of prevention of obesity and early intervention to prevent abnormalities among obese children.