Epidemiology and lifestyle survey of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in school-age children and adolescents in Shenyang, Liaoning

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is diagnosed increasingly in children and adolescents. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and related influencing factors of NAFLD in school-aged children and adolescents in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship between lifestyle and fatty liver. METHODS: We conducted aprospective cohort study of 1309 school-aged children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 18 years who underwent physical examination from November to December 2019. In addition, they were collected age, gender, learning stage, height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-hip ratio. Finally, a portion of the population was selected to complete a questionnaire survey to explore the impact of lifestyle habits on fatty liver disease. RESULTS: NAFLD was present in 23.83% of subjects. The prevalence of children and adolescents was 22.73% and 24.43%, respectively. Fatty liver prevalence differs significantly by gender and learning stages. The highest rate of fatty liver was seen in obese children (71.68%). Moreover, exercise, diet, and parental factors can affect children with fatty liver. CONCLUSIONS: NAFLD is very prevalent in children and adolescents in Shenyang city. Due to the close relationship between NAFLD and obesity, lifestyle plays a major role in the occurrence of NAFLD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, [2020] 2020–258-2. Registered 6 June 2020—Retrospectively registered. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-022-03351-w.