NEW DELHI: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a precursor of serious liver disorders including cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer, has now started to affect India's youth. Experts estimate that almost 17%-40% of obese children in India, aged between 8-20 years, are now being diagnosed with fatty liver following ultrasound tests in various hospitals.

According to Dr Archana Arya, adolescent endocrinologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 55 out of 133 obese children coming to the hospital in the past year were diagnosed with fatty liver. Paediatrician Dr Anupam Sibal from Apollo hospital said over five cases of paediatric fatty liver was now being diagnosed every week.

In a study conducted by Dr Deepak Amarapurkar, liver specialist at Bombay Hospital and Medical Research Centre, involving 1,500 people from 500 families living in the railway colonies of Mumbai, the number of children suffering from fatty liver rose from 2% among children aged five years to 10% in those aged about 20.

Professor of paediatrics at SGPGI, Lucknow, Dr Surinder Yachha also recorded a similar trend among children from prosperous families in Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi.

According to these experts, NAFLD is the most chronic and serious consequence of childhood obesity. However, it receives very little attention. The majority of children who have NAFLD go undiagnosed.