Study: Obesity Leads To Liver Damage In Children

A study published last Wednesday in the Journal of Pediatrics found overweight childhood can develop nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition often associated with obesity. It occurs when too much fat accumulates in the liver, causing inflammation, which leads to liver damage.

This condition affects an estimated 80 million people in the U.S. and several million across Africa, Nigeria inclusive. The disease is the most common chronic liver condition in children and adolescents, according to a press release from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

The study found the larger a child's waist circumference is at the age of 3 the more likely that by the age of 8 that child will have markers for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Dr. Jennifer Woo Baidal, lead author of the study and professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians, said in the press release there is little awareness of the link between obesity and liver disease.

"With the rise in childhood obesity, more kids are developing the disease, and we're seeing more in our practice," Woo Baidal said. "Many parents are aware that obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes and other serious metabolic conditions, but there is far less awareness of the link between obesity and liver disease."

The study measured levels of an enzyme called ALT – elevated levels are a marker for liver damage. Researchers took waist circumference measurements of 635 children at 3 years old and again at about 8 years old. By age 8, 23 percent of children had elevated ALT levels.

Children with a larger waist circumference at age 3, as well as those who had greater weight gain between the ages of 3 and 8 were more likely to have elevated ALT levels at age 8.
 

Thirty-five percent of 8-year-olds with obesity had elevated ALT compared with 20 percent of those with normal weight, according to the study.

While the disease is often without symptoms, if left untreated it can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The liver is responsible for making countless proteins, maintaining the body's metabolism and filtering out toxins from blood, and according to Woo Baidal, the only treatment for a failing liver is a transplant.