Epidemiology of alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in <scp>C</scp>hina

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p><jats:boxed-text content-type="graphic" position="anchor"><jats:graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" position="anchor" xlink:href="urn:x-wiley:08159319:media:jgh12036:jgh12036-fig-5001"><jats:alt-text>graphic</jats:alt-text></jats:graphic></jats:boxed-text></jats:p><jats:p>The prevalence of patients presenting with fatty liver disease (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FLD</jats:styled-content>) in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>hina has approximately doubled over the past two decades. At present, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FLD</jats:styled-content>, which is typically diagnosed by imaging, is highly prevalent (∼27% urban population) in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>hina and is mainly related to obesity and metabolic syndrome (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">MetS</jats:styled-content>). However, the percentage of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) among patients with chronic liver diseases in clinic is increasing as well, and a synergetic effect exists between heavy alcohol drinking and obesity in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ALD</jats:styled-content>. Prevalence figures reveal regional variations, with a median prevalence of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ALD</jats:styled-content> and nonalcoholic <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FLD</jats:styled-content> (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NAFLD</jats:styled-content>) of 4.5% and 15.0%, respectively. The prevalence of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NAFLD</jats:styled-content> in children is 2.1%, although the prevalence increases to 68.2% among obese children. With the increasing pandemic of obesity and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">MetS</jats:styled-content> in the general population, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>hina is likely to harbor an increasing reservoir of patients with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FLD</jats:styled-content>. The risk factors for <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FLD</jats:styled-content> resemble to those of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>aucasian counterparts, but the ethnic‐specific definitions of obesity and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">MetS</jats:styled-content> are more useful in assessment of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>hinese people. Therefore, <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">FLD</jats:styled-content>/<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NAFLD</jats:styled-content> has become a most common chronic liver disease in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">C</jats:styled-content>hina. Public health interventions are needed to halt the worldwide trend of obesity and alcohol abuse to ameliorate liver injury and to improve metabolic health.</jats:p>