Fatty liver and obesity cases rising among children

Fatty liver and obesity problems are increasing among mid-school children. Seeing the rising trend, city-based pediatricians and hepatologists are now fearing that very soon the problem might reach a tipping point if parents and schools do not take quick intervention. Dr Kaiser Raja, chief hepatologist at BGS Global Hospital, said: 'About 15 per cent of the cases I am seeing everyday are related to students in the age group of 10-18 years. Every week, I get about 3-4 cases of fatty liver and obesity, and most of them are in the mid-school level starting from sixth standard. About 50 per cent of the children in this age group are overweight.'

Consumption of fast food and diet which are rich in fats and calories are the major factor leading to children developing fatty liver and obesity problems. Especially, the intake of soft drinks which contain high level of fructus affects the liver. 'It isn't just the obese children, I have also seen thin children coming in with complaints of fatty liver. At the age of 10-15 years, these children are having fatty liver problem and they are likely to have advanced liver problems by the time they reach 35-40 years,' warned Dr Raja.

Lifestyle modification is the only cure to the malaise. It is the parents and school authorities who need to wake up and bring about a change and food habits of their children, he asserted. The scenario is no different at Narayana Health. Dr Anil Kumar Sapare, senior consultant and HOD in the paediatric department here, said: 'Over the past five years, the number of fatty liver cases among children have almost doubled up.

Source: DNAsyndication / By Luna Dewan

You may also like to read:

• Why is childhood obesity on the rise?
• What is making your kid obese?
• Tackling obesity in children
• Omega-3 fatty acids may help prevent fatty liver disease
• Kids who play outside less likely to get fatty liver disease

For more articles on children's health, visit our children's health section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.