High Prevalence of Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase in American Indian Children Seen in a Pediatric Weight Management Clinic.

Abstract

Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) can indicate risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. However, there is little data about the prevalence of elevated ALT in American Indian (AI) children. Baseline data from children attending the pediatric weight management clinic were used to describe the prevalence of elevated ALT, stratified by race and ethnicity. The prevalence of elevated ALT was higher among children who were male, were older, had higher body mass index Z scores, and were non-Hispanic and AI. In this clinic, AI children with overweight and obesity had a disproportionately high prevalence of elevated ALT; root causes of this disparity should be identified.