Overview
- The cross-sectional analysis found average liver fat of about 14% in metabolically unhealthy participants versus about 6% in metabolically healthy peers.
- Visceral fat and other measured factors did not differ significantly between groups, pointing to hepatic fat as the key discriminator.
- Children already showing illness reported higher intake of sodium, processed foods, and saturated fats from red meat, and the authors pointed to a Mediterranean-style diet as a potential protective pattern.
- Those in the unhealthy group were roughly three times more likely to have been born after high-risk pregnancies, indicating possible prenatal influences on later metabolic health.
- The authors stress that the findings show correlation rather than causation and urge larger longitudinal studies, proposing noninvasive liver-focused screening and diet-based interventions; the study appears in Frontiers in Nutrition.