Liver Disease No Longer An Adult Burden, Doctors Warn As Cases Rise In Children

Ten-year-old Saloni’s (name changed) ordeal began with what appeared to be routine complaints—fatigue, forgetfulness, and a lack of energy. Within days, it turned into a life-threatening emergency. She could no longer stand or walk. Alarmed, her family, residents of Burari in the national capital, rushed her to the hospital, where doctors found that regular consumption of junk food had taken a toll on her liver, which had almost collapsed.

According to Dr. Shailesh Sharma, HoD and Consultant Pediatrics at Yatharth Super Speciality Hospital, Model Town, who treated her, the child had developed acute liver failure, leading to a dangerous build-up of toxins in her body. These toxins affected her brain, causing swelling—a condition that can prove fatal if not treated in time.

"Initially, we feared the worst and considered a liver transplant. However, Saloni responded to plasmapheresis—a specialized procedure that removes toxins from the blood—giving her liver time to recover and ultimately saving her life."

Investigations revealed that Saloni was regularly consuming junk foods like momos when her parents were away at work. Her grandfather was giving her money without knowing where she was spending it. But now, the family has learned the lesson the hard way.

Having survived a critical illness, Saloni and her parents said that they now understand the harm of regularly consuming fast food. But doctors raise a troubling question: Saloni was lucky to survive, but what about many other children who are silently moving towards liver failure due to changing lifestyle patterns?

“This is not an isolated case anymore,” Dr. Sharma cautioned. “We are increasingly seeing children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (now known as MASLD) and even severe liver dysfunction. What was once considered an adult disease is now affecting children too, which is extremely worrying.”

He attributed this shift to a combination of factors: high consumption of ultra-processed and street food, reduced physical activity, and excessive screen time. Together, these are triggering metabolic changes that gradually damage the liver.

While unhygienic or poor-quality street food may expose children to toxins or infections, the larger concern is the overall pattern of eating and living. “It is not about one plate of momos. It is about repeated exposure to unhealthy food combined with inactivity,” Dr. Sharma explained.

Another concern he highlighted is poor hydration. “Most children and even adults consume barely one to one-and-a-half liters of water daily, whereas the body requires at least 2.5 liters for proper metabolism,” he noted. Inadequate water intake, along with a poor diet, further strains the liver.

The case also reflects a broader social shift in urban India. With increasing work pressures, nuclear families, both parents working, and the absence of elders at home, many children are left unsupervised for long hours. Easy access to fast food and a lack of dietary monitoring allow unhealthy habits to develop unchecked. Over time, these habits silently translate into serious health risks.

He warned that liver disease in children often remains undetected in its early stages. Symptoms are subtle—fatigue, poor concentration, weakness—and are easily dismissed.

Dr. Sharma emphasized that prevention must rest on simple but consistent habits: a disciplined lifestyle anchored in balanced, fiber-rich diets, regular physical activity, adequate hydration, and mindful daily routines.

Dr. Apoorva Pande, Additional Director and HoD of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Yatharth Hospital, added that such discipline should be followed by adults as well to keep liver diseases at bay.

According to doctors, one in every five Indians is at risk of developing "silent liver disease." The DiaFib-Liver Study, which screened 9,202 individuals, found that 5% had asymptomatic cirrhosis. Additionally, cases of MASLD are projected to rise from 1.3 billion in 2023 to 1.8 billion by 2050.

The situation in Delhi-NCR is particularly concerning. Around 22.8% of the population is affected by fatty liver, with prevalence rising to 60.4% among high-risk groups such as those with diabetes and obesity. AIIMS data suggests that fatty liver cases in urban areas are nearly 40% higher than in rural regions.

Dr. Pande also blamed pollutants like PM2.5 for increasing liver diseases. “PM2.5 enters the bloodstream through respiration and reaches the liver, causing inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibrosis. Reduced physical activity due to work-from-home lifestyles further amplifies the risk.”

He added that 30–40% of patients visiting OPDs are diagnosed with fatty liver, most of them aged between 20 and 50 years. Alarmingly, cases are rising even among adolescents due to sedentary lifestyles and high intake of refined carbohydrates.

Dr. Pande also highlighted the concern of "lean fatty liver," noting that 9% to 32% of Indians with normal body weight are also affected, indicating that being thin does not necessarily equate to being healthy.

He explained that lean fatty liver (or lean NAFLD) is a condition where individuals with a normal BMI develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, affecting a portion of all NAFLD cases. Despite being thin, these patients often have visceral fat, insulin resistance, or genetic factors contributing to liver fat accumulation, said Dr. Pande.