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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1509232

Global, regional, and national burden of NAFLD in youths and young adults aged 15-39 years, 1990-2021, its attributable risk factors, and projections to 2035: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Provisionally accepted
Jiong Wang Jiong Wang 1*Jiqing Du Jiqing Du 2*Minxiu Wang Minxiu Wang 1*Mengyun Jin Mengyun Jin 1*Zhihua Tang Zhihua Tang 1*Yuqin Mao Yuqin Mao 1*
  • 1 Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
  • 2 Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, Guangdong, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a significant health burden in youths and young adults, and the trend toward younger onset of NAFLD is alarming. Utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study, this study assessed the burden and trends of NAFLD in youths and young adults aged 15-39 from 1990 to 2021 and extracted data from this study on the incidence, prevalence, death, and disabilityadjusted life-years (DALYs) rates of NAFLD. We evaluated the global temporal trend of NAFLD from 1990 to 2021 with estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) and age-standardized rate (ASR). The Bayesian age-period-cohort (BAPC) model was used to predict future trends of the NAFLD burden to 2035. We found that the global burden of NAFLD in youths and young adults has risen steadily from 1990 to 2021, and projects to increase to 2035, which places enormous pressure on society. To alleviate this burden, implementing measures targeting risk factors such as glycemic control and smoking cessation is necessary.

    Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Global burden of disease, young adults, Youths, Risk factors

    Received: 10 Oct 2024; Accepted: 07 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Du, Wang, Jin, Tang and Mao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jiong Wang, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
    Jiqing Du, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, Guangdong, China
    Minxiu Wang, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
    Mengyun Jin, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
    Zhihua Tang, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China
    Yuqin Mao, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.