Hepatic steatosis in pediatric obesity: association with cardiometabolic profile and considerations regarding alanine aminotransferase screening
Liver fat affects nearly 30% of obese children but is missed by standard liver enzyme testing, especially in boys, highlighting screening inadequacy.
In 91 obese children, UGAP-confirmed hepatic steatosis was present in 28.6% and associated with worse cardiometabolic profiles; ALT screening missed more than 80% of steatosis cases, with markedly worse performance in males. This finding challenges the adequacy of current ALT-based screening guidelines in pediatric obesity.
What the study was
- Study design
- Single-center cross-sectional study
- Population
- 91 obese children ≥9 years at pediatric endocrinology/gastroenterology clinics; July 2023–July 2025
- Sample size
- 91
- Category
- Diagnostics
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- Eur J Pediatr
Why it surfaced
Sex-specific ALT diagnostic gap in pediatric MASLD screening is clinically useful. Small n=91, single-centre. Score 4 — borderline STANDARD; included for completeness of cardiometabolic topic.
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