WHY INDIA IS NOW AMONG THE WORLD’S TOP THREE FOR FATTY LIVER DISEASE

India is facing a silent rapidly escalating health crisis as fatty liver disease places the country among the world’s top three most affected nations.

- TDG NETWORK NEW DELHI

Once considered a relatively benign condition, fatty liver disease has now emerged as one of the most common and serious chronic liver disorders globally, driven largely by rising obesity, diabetes, and sedentary lifestyles.A recent global study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association highlights that metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), earlier known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, affects nearly 30-40 per cent of the adult population worldwide. Alarmingly, the burden is disproportionately high among people with metabolic disorders. Nearly 60-70 per cent of individuals with type 2 diabetes and up to 80 per cent of those with obesity are found to have fatty liver disease.

India's situation is particularly concerning. Between 2010 and 2021, the country recorded a 13.2 per cent rise in age-standardised prevalence, ranking just behind China and Sudan. Experts warn that MASLD is far more than a lifestyle-related inconvenience—it is strongly associated with liver cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and premature death.

To understand why India is witnessing such a sharp rise, Dr Ayush Verma, Department of Hepatology at Lady Hardinge Hospital

According to Dr Verma, fatty liver disease is not a new phenomenon in India, but its true scale has become evident only in recent years. “Fatty liver was always present. What has changed is the sharp increase in metabolic risk factors like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and sedentary lifestyles. As a result, the actual prevalence has genuinely gone up,” he said.