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Children who spend more than six waking hours a day being sedentary are at a significantly higher risk of developing severe fatty liver disease and liver cirrhosis by the time they reach young adulthood, according to a recent study. This finding was announced on Saturday at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, ‘ENDO 2024’, in Boston, US.
Fatty liver disease, characterized by harmful fat accumulation in the liver, can be particularly concerning when not related to alcohol consumption. This non-alcoholic variant is known as metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and is linked to at least one of the five components of metabolic syndrome.
Professor Andrew Agbaje from the University of Eastern Finland led the study, which was published in the journal Nature’s Gut and Liver. Agbaje’s research analyzed data from a long-term study involving a large UK birth cohort. He highlighted the likely causal relationship between prolonged sedentary behavior and liver damage.
Participants in the study underwent liver ultrasound scans at ages 17 and 24 to check for fatty liver and liver scarring. The findings revealed that, on average, children spent about six hours daily being sedentary, with this duration increasing to nine hours by young adulthood. Alarmingly, for every additional half-hour of sedentary behavior beyond six hours per day, the odds of developing fatty liver disease before age 25 increased by 15%.
Additionally, the study noted that any increase in sedentary time above six hours per day corresponded with a decrease in light-intensity physical activity, leading to three hours less daily activity by young adulthood. Conversely, each extra half hour of light-intensity physical activity beyond three hours per day reduced the odds of severe fatty liver disease by 33%.
“We believe that this alteration in sedentary time versus time for light-intensity physical activity sets the stage for disease initiation and progression,” Agbaje explained.
This study underscores the critical importance of reducing sedentary time among children and promoting more active lifestyles to prevent severe liver diseases and other related health issues in the future.
