What is pediatric fatty liver disease?

Before the turn of the century, there were only a handful of documented cases of pediatric fatty liver disease in the medical literature. Today, millions are affected, and researchers in the journal Clinical Liver Disease estimate that 5 to 10 percent of all U.S. children have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease — making it about as common as asthma.

The escalation of pediatric fatty liver cases has unfolded in tandem with the presence among the young of other conditions once viewed as almost exclusively adult diseases: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, even gallstones. The trends reflect an environment in which more Americans are facing early death. Life expectancy in the United States has been on the decline in recent years, hitting 76.4 years in 2021, the lowest point in nearly two decades, according to government data. While the opioid epidemic and gun violence account for some of those young deaths, the seeds of many other preventable deaths are sown in childhood.

“Fatty liver disease is the worst disease you’ve never heard of,” said Samir Softic, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Kentucky Children’s Hospital who specializes in fatty liver disease. Read more about NAFLD and the Post's coverage on America's epidemic of chronic illnesses killing us too soonSubscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube