ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Obesity
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1558023
Nine Anthropometric Indices Predict Hepatic Steatosis and Assess Liver Health in Adolescents: A Population-Based Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China
- 2Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China
- 3Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
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Purpose: The increasing prevalence of obesity among adolescents has resulted in an increase in the incidence of hepatic steatosis; however, the relationship between anthropometric measurements and this condition in youth remains underexplored.Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of nine anthropometric indicators in predicting the risk of hepatic steatosis in adolescents.Methods: We assessed several anthropometric indicators, including the abdominal volume index (AVI), body mass index, body roundness index, body adiposity index, conicity index, waist-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and weight-adjusted waist index. Statistical methods such as multivariate logistic regression, smooth curve fitting, and subgroup analysis were employed. Discriminative accuracy was determined using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, and a tool based on the optimal Youden index was developed.Results: All nine indices were significantly correlated with hepatic steatosis in adolescents. AVI demonstrated the strongest predictive ability, with an area under the curve of 0.8454 (95% confidence interval: 0.8221–0.8687, best threshold: 14.9992). Variations in predictive accuracy were observed across racial and ethnic subgroups, highlighting the importance of demographic factors.Conclusion: All nine anthropometric indices are associated with hepatic steatosis, with AVI emerging as the most effective tool for assessing liver health in adolescents.
Keywords: Anthropometric indices, Avi, Hepatic Steatosis, Adolescent, NHANES
Received: 09 Jan 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zhou, Zhang, Tong and Lu. 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: Baochun Lu, Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang Province, China
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