Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Body Mass Index, and Waist Circumference to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Open accessAbstract
Background & aims There is a need for more work examining the potential of physical activity and/or weight control as a preventive and/or therapeutic option in the treatment of fatty liver diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference with markers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Methods Participants consisted of 218 apparently healthy nonsmoking, nonalcoholic men aged 33-73 years. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a maximal treadmill test. Liver and spleen density were measured using a computed tomography scan. We defined the presence of NAFLD as the following 3 conditions being met: (1) liver to spleen density of 1.0 or less, (2) serum alanine transaminase level greater than 30 U/L, and (3) serum aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase level less than 1.0.Results Twenty-four (11%) of the participants met the NAFLD definition. There was an inverse association between fitness categories, and a positive association for BMI categories (and waist circumference categories) with the prevalence of NAFLD (P for trend <.001 for all). Fitness and BMI were independent of each other in their associations with the prevalence of NAFLD. The addition of waist circumference to the regression model attenuated the association with prevalence of NAFLD for both fitness (P value changed from <.0001 to .06) and BMI (P value changed from <.001 to .22).Conclusions Fitness (inversely) and BMI (directly) were associated with the prevalence of NAFLD. However, these associations were attenuated when abdominal obesity was included in the statistical model.
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Lower cardiorespiratory fitness is directly associated with higher NAFLD prevalence in healthy, nonsmoking, nonalcoholic 33-73-year-old men.
“Church found lower CRF directly associated with higher NAFLD prevalence in healthy, nonsmoking, nonalcoholic 33–73-yr-old men (101).”
From Lack of Exercise Is a Major Cause of Chronic Diseases (2012) · cites this paper as [101]
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- Authors
- Church, T. S., Kuk, J. L., Ross, R., Priest, E. L., Biltoff, E., & Blair, S. N.
- Affiliations
- Cooper Institute (US)
- Queen's University (CA)
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Church, Timothy S.
- Venue
- Gastroenterology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-06
- Volume
- 130
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 2023-2030
- ISSN
- 0016-5085 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2010571737
- Cited by
- 268
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 9.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Gastroenterology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Scholar Commons (University of South Carolina) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (AG06945)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL62508, R01HL062508)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins
- Keywords
- non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass index, waist circumference, abdominal obesity, liver density, physical activity, weight management, NAFLD prevalence
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Body Constitution, Cardiovascular Diseases, Fatty Liver, Humans, Liver Function Tests, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Physical Fitness, Prognosis, Sensitivity and Specificity, Severity of Illness Index, Cohort Studies, Body Mass Index, Prevalence, Age Distribution, Risk Assessment, Waist-Hip Ratio
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