Children have fatty livers too
ByA few days ago I wrote about a condition in adults called NALFD. It stands for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The weird thing to me is that children could have this problem. I wouldn’t have believed it except for a study published by the University of California, San Diego.
742 children aged two to nineteen who died in traumatic accidents were examined. 13 % of these victims had NALFD. The researchers estimate that 9.6 % of the children in San Diego may have this condition based on these findings. If these findings were extrapolated to the entire child and adolescent population of the USA, approximately 6.5 million children under age 19 may be affected by NALFD.
The over-riding risk factor for NAFLD in this study was OBESITY. Our children, especially those from poor economic circumstances, eat a poor diet and get fat. This fatness threatens their lives with early liver failure from cirrhosis.
The stats and some facts about this study are found here. Find more information at www.liverfoundation.org.
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