In recent years, with the improvement of material conditions, the obesity rate among children and adolescents in my country has also increased significantly. According to the "Report on Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2020)", the overweight and obesity rate of adult residents in my country exceeds 50%, the obesity rate of children and adolescents aged 6-17 is close to 20%, and the number of children under 6 years old reaches 10%. Children's Adolescent obesity has led to common diseases such as fatty liver in the past becoming "adolescent diseases".
01 Causes of fatty liver in children and adolescents
Most children and adolescents are fatty liver in children and adolescents are related to overweight/obesity. An unhealthy lifestyle, including staying up late, unhealthy eating habits, and lack of exercise are important factors that lead to overweight/obesity. Improved living standards have also changed the dietary structure of minors. Most obese children like to eat meat, fried foods, sweets, and often drink sugary beverages, but lack sufficient exercise, which is the main cause of obesity and fatty liver.
also found that the prevalence of fatty liver in children and adolescents is related to parents' obesity. For example, if a mother is obese before pregnancy, it will lead to a higher chance of fatty liver disease in offspring, and the probability of fatty liver disease in offspring of a father's obese child will also be greatly increased.
02Hazards of fatty liver in children and adolescents
Hazards of fatty liver in children and adolescents
Hazards of fatty liver in children and adolescents. Due to the accumulation of fat in the liver cells, the liver blood supplying liver cells to congestion and edema, causing inflammatory infiltration and liver cell necrosis. The disease develops into steatohepatitis will experience persistent liver function abnormalities, and it will gradually develop into cirrhosis over time. If fatty liver disease in children and adolescents is not controlled in a timely and effective manner, some of it can progress to adult liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and even liver cancer , seriously affecting physical health and quality of life.
Fat liver disease in children and adolescents has no obvious symptoms when it is mild or moderate fatty liver , so it is easy to be ignored until it develops into severe fatty liver, which seriously affects liver function, but it is too late. Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and researchers at the Karolinska School of Medicine in Sweden used the national population registration data of Sweden to compare and analyze 718 patients with fatty liver disease diagnosed with liver biopsy in the age of 25 years old with the general population (control group). The results showed that the risk of fatty liver in children and adolescents diagnosed with liver biopsy increased significantly. The results were published in November 2021 in the journal Journal of Hepatology, an internationally renowned medical journal.
Which children should screen for fatty liver?
1. Abnormal transaminase
2. Patients with obesity and metabolic abnormalities ( hypertriglyceridemia , hypertension , hyperuricemia)
3. Ultrasound examination found fatty liver
Prevention and treatment of fatty liver in adolescents
Doctors, parents and children should participate in the formulation of individualized diet and exercise plans.
1. Reasonable diet
First of all, we must cultivate children's healthy eating habits, focus on low-fat diets, eat more vegetables and fruits, especially green leafy vegetables, and reduce the intake of refined sugar and saturated fat in terms of diet, such as pastries, fried foods, fast food, ice cream, fat meat, etc. While controlling your diet, you must also ensure balanced nutrition and strengthen the intake of high-quality protein to meet the nutritional needs of children's growth and development.
2. Regular exercise
Educate parents to exercise with their children, drive children's enthusiasm for exercise, and cultivate children's habit of exercise.
3. Adhere to weight loss
Children and parents should insist on recording weight, waist circumference and other related observation indicators to facilitate doctors to adjust treatment plans when visiting the doctor. If parents are obese or have unhealthy diet, they also need to actively lose weight. Creating a healthy growth environment in daily life will help improve the treatment effect of fatty liver disease.
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