Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease occurs when fat accumulates in liver cells. It’s the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, and it’s estimated that up to 30 percent of Americans have it.
Prolonged sitting such as watching TV and using the computer and other devices as well as reduced physical activity may increase risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease that may potentially lead to liver failure and death, new research has found.
“We found that prolonged sitting time and decreased physical activity level was positively associated with the prevalence of NAFLD in a large sample of middle-aged Koreans,” said lead investigator Seungho Ryu from Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
The presence of fatty liver was determined using ultrasonography — of the people studied; nearly 40,000 had NAFLD. Importantly, researchers found that both prolonged sitting time and decreased physical activity level were independently associated with the increasing prevalence of NAFLD.
