SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1600826
Fast Food Consumption and Risk of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Yiwu Central Hospital, Yiwu, China
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Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global health issue, with fast food consumption hypothesized as a risk factor. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the relationship between fast food intake and NAFLD.Methods: This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase from inception to February 28, 2025. A total of nine eligible observational studies involving 169,771 participants were included. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects models.Results: A higher consumption of fast food was significantly associated with a 55% increased risk of NAFLD (OR=1.55, 95% CI: 1.51-1.59, P<0.001, I 2 =15.6%). Moreover, fast food intake was linked to a 37% higher risk of obesity (OR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.27-1.49, P<0.001, I 2 =54.2%), a key metabolic factor in NAFLD pathogenesis. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of these associations, with no significant evidence of publication bias.Conclusions: Fast food consumption is positively associated with NAFLD and obesity.Heterogeneity highlights the need for standardized methods in future large-scale studies to validate these findings and inform preventive strategies.
Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, fast food, Obesity, Meta-analysis, Systematic review
Received: 27 Mar 2025; Accepted: 03 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 He, Wang and Weng. 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: Jinke He, Yiwu Central Hospital, Yiwu, China
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