ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1579453
The Association Between Sedentary Behavior and MASLD in Overweight and Obese Adults: Investigating the Role of Inflammatory Markers Using NHANES Data (2017-March 2020)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhongshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhongshan, China
- 2Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
- 3Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Metabolic dysfunction-associated statistic liver disease (MASLD) has been linked to sedentary behavior (SB), yet the extent to which systemic inflammation mediates this relationship remains unclear. This study aims to demonstrate the mediating function of inflammation markers in the link between sedentary behavior and metabolic dysfunction-associated statistic liver disease (MASLD) in overweight and obese individuals. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed pre-pandemic data (2017-March 2020) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), including 3,729 overweight/obese adults with MASLD defined by a controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) ≥ 302 dB/m. Self-reported SB (≥ 480 min/day vs < 480 min/day) and vigorous recreational activity were assessed alongside inflammatory markers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [HSCRP], albumin [ALB], white blood cell count [WBC], and neutrophil count [NE]). And weighted multivariable logistic and linear regression models, as well as mediation analyses, were conducted to account for the complex sampling design of the NHANES data. Results: Weighted logistic regression showed that severe SB was associated with higher MASLD odds (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.02-1.99), which further increased (OR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.77-4.71) in participants lacking vigorous physical activity. Independent predictors of MASLD included lower ALB (OR = 0.55) and higher WBC (OR = 1.16) and NE (OR = 1.17). Mediation analysis indicated that HSCRP, ALB, WBC, and NE respectively accounted for 10.48%, 3.23%, 7.17%, and 6.46% of the SB -MASLD association. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that severe sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for MASLD, with some evidence suggesting that this relationship may be influenced by inflammatory markers. However, longitudinal studies are necessary to better understand the nature of these associations and to explore the underlying mechanisms involved.
Keywords: MASLD, metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease, Sedentary Behavior (SB), Inflammatory markers, NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), Mediation analysis
Received: 19 Feb 2025; Accepted: 31 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou, Fang, Wang, Chen, Li, Huang and Ming. 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:
Zehong Zhou, Zhongshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhongshan, China
Peng Ming, Zhongshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhongshan, 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.