Abstract

Objective: To identify the presence of fatty liver in a group of overweight and obese children and adolescents. 

Methods: An exploratory-descriptive cross-sectional study of overweight and obese children and adolescents with no history of alcoholism, infectious or hereditary liver diseases, or use of any medications who were treated in a pediatric outpatient clinic from March 2017 to October 2018. The following variables were analyzed: sex, age, weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure; lipid profile, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and fasting blood glucose. Fatty liver was diagnosed by Doppler ultrasound. 

Results: The sample consisted of 55 participants aged 4 to 18 years. Of these, 33 (60%) were male and 22 (40%), female. Fatty liver was found in 26 (47.2%) patients: five (19.3%) overweight, 21 (80.7%) obese; 12 (46.1%) female, 14 (53.8%) male. Total cholesterol was elevated in eight (30.8%) patients, LDL-c in two (7.7%), triglycerides in 11 (42.3%), and fasting blood glucose in five (19.2%). Of 26 patients with a diagnosis of fatty liver, 12 (46.2%) had HDL-c concentrations below recommended targets, and 11 (42.3%) had metabolic syndrome. Seventeen (65.3%) patients with fatty liver had increased waist circumference (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: There was an association between total cholesterol, waist circumference, and fatty liver, suggesting that waist circumference may be used as a screening tool to predict fatty liver.

Keywords:Fatty Liver; Obesity; Overweight; Child; Waist Circumference

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