Table 1.
Population characteristics by NAFLD status, NHANES 2017–2018.
| Overall | NAFLD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No/mild (<260) | Moderate (260–290) | Severe (>290) | p-value | ||
| Overall | 3,292 | 1,668 (52.1%) | 539 (16.1%) | 1,085 (31.8%) | |
| Race/ethnicity | <0.0001 | ||||
| Mexican American | 441 (8.5) | 157 (36.9) | 75 (17.2) | 209 (46.0) | |
| Other Hispanic | 286 (6.0) | 147 (56.4) | 44 (13.8) | 95 (29.9) | |
| Non-Hispanic White | 1,220 (65.6) | 605 (52.4) | 194 (15.5) | 421 (32.1) | |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 718 (9.9) | 424 (61.2) | 115 (16.1) | 179 (22.7) | |
| Other race | 627 (9.9) | 335 (51.6) | 111 (20.6) | 181 (27.8) | |
| Age (years) | <0.0001 | ||||
| 18–19 | 165 (3.3) | 130 (83.7) | 10 (5.5) | 25 (10.8) | |
| 20–34 | 742 (27.4) | 479 (65.8) | 97 (11.5) | 166 (22.7) | |
| 35–49 | 728 (23.6) | 352 (51.1) | 124 (17.4) | 252 (31.5) | |
| 50–64 | 922 (27.6) | 377 (42.1) | 173 (18.7) | 372 (39.2) | |
| 65+ | 735 (18.2) | 330 (42.4) | 135 (19.3) | 270 (38.4) | |
| Sex | 0.0016 | ||||
| Male | 1,596 (48.2) | 745 (47.5) | 254 (16.0) | 597 (36.5) | |
| Female | 1,696 (51.8) | 923 (56.4) | 285 (16.2) | 488 (27.4) | |
| Education | 0.0036 | ||||
| Less than high school | 576 (9.9) | 286 (50.5) | 95 (19.7) | 195 (29.9) | |
| High school | 821 (28.1) | 421 (50.6) | 120 (13.9) | 280 (35.5) | |
| Some college | 1,097 (30.9) | 536 (49.2) | 180 (15.1) | 381 (35.7) | |
| At least college degree | 798 (31.1) | 425 (57.0) | 144 (17.9) | 229 (25.1) | |
| Language spoken at home | 0.1064 | ||||
| English | 2,358 (82.9) | 1,244 (53.2) | 376 (16.0) | 738 (30.8) | |
| Spanish | 219 (3.5) | 83 (39.2) | 40 (17.4) | 96 (43.4) | |
| Both | 357 (7.4) | 155 (47.5) | 53 (14.2) | 149 (38.3) | |
| Other | 358 (6.2) | 186 (50.5) | 70 (18.4) | 102 (31.0) | |
| Federal income ratio (FIR) | 0.3495 | ||||
| <1 | 616 (12.4) | 345 (57.4) | 80 (13.2) | 191 (29.4) | |
| 1–2 | 890 (19.6) | 435 (51.7) | 155 (18.0) | 300 (30.3) | |
| >2 | 1,786 (68.0) | 888 (51.3) | 304 (16.1) | 594 (32.6) | |
| Waist-hip ratio | <0.0001 | ||||
| Healthy | 1,442 (46.3) | 966 (70.3) | 203 (12.1) | 273 (17.6) | |
| Risk for women (≥0.85)/risk for men (≥1.0) | 1,850 (53.7) | 702 (36.5) | 336 (19.5) | 812 (44.0) | |
| Body mass index (BMI) | <0.0001 | ||||
| Normal or healthy (<25) | 934 (28.0) | 793 (88.7) | 83 (7.0) | 58 (4.3) | |
| Overweight (25- <30) | 1,051 (31.0) | 544 (54.1) | 208 (20.7) | 299 (25.3) | |
| Obese (≥30) | 1,307 (41.0) | 331 (25.7) | 248 (18.9) | 728 (55.5) | |
| Smoking status | <0.0001 | ||||
| Current | 550 (15.6) | 333 (60.2) | 70 (14.9) | 147 (24.9) | |
| Former | 758 (24.3) | 302 (41.6) | 137 (18.8) | 319 (39.6) | |
| Non-smoker | 1,984 (60.0) | 1,033 (54.3) | 332 (15.3) | 619 (30.4) | |
| Alcohol use | 0.1039 | ||||
| Current drinker | 2,248 (76.3) | 1,159 (53.3) | 372 (16.2) | 717 (30.5) | |
| Former drinker | 642 (16.1) | 295 (47.5) | 109 (18.9) | 238 (33.6) | |
| Never drank | 339 (7.6) | 180 (50.7) | 50 (10.8) | 109 (38.5) | |
| Physical activity | <0.0001 | ||||
| Inactive | 733 (18.5) | 318 (43.9) | 133 (17.6) | 282 (38.5) | |
| Does not meet guideline | 515 (15.2) | 241 (43.2) | 77 (14.6) | 197 (42.2) | |
| Meets guidelines | 2,044 (66.2) | 1,109 (56.5) | 329 (16.0) | 606 (27.5) | |
| Healthy eating index | 0.0110 | ||||
| Poor diet | 2,304 (71.4) | 1,157 (49.8) | 379 (16.8) | 768 (33.5) | |
| Needs improvement | 887 (26.0) | 460 (56.8) | 140 (14.7) | 287 (28.5) | |
| Good diet | 101 (2.6) | 51 (70.0) | 20 (10.9) | 30 (19.1) | |
| Serum cholesterol | 0.0112 | ||||
| Good (<200 mg/dL) | 2,137 (62.7) | 1,143 (55.2) | 330 (15.7) | 664 (29.1) | |
| Elevated (200–239 mg/dL) | 825 (27.1) | 384 (47.7) | 147 (16.4) | 294 (35.9) | |
| High (≥240 mg/dL) | 330 (10.2) | 141 (45.0) | 62 (17.7) | 127 (37.4) | |
| High-density lipoproteins | <0.0001 | ||||
| Low (<40 mg/dL) | 556 (15.4) | 157 (28.4) | 91 (15.3) | 308 (56.3) | |
| Borderline risk (40–59 mg/dL) | 1,785 (54.5) | 853 (48.3) | 301 (16.9) | 631 (34.8) | |
| Healthy (≥60 mg/dL) | 951 (30.1) | 658 (71.2) | 147 (15.0) | 146 (13.7) | |
| Serum triglycerides | <0.0001 | ||||
| Normal (<150 mg/dL) | 2,236 (67.5) | 1,370 (63.6) | 339 (14.9) | 527 (21.5) | |
| Borderline (150–199 mg/dL) | 505 (15.9) | 165 (34.1) | 113 (22.6) | 227 (43.2) | |
| High (≥200 mg/dL) | 551 (16.6) | 133 (22.8) | 87 (14.6) | 331 (62.5) | |
| High-Sensitivity CRP | |||||
| Normal (0.1– <1 mg/dL) | 1,004 (31.2) | 705 (71.9) | 137 (12.4) | 162 (15.6) | <0.0001 |
| Mild inflammation (1– <3 mg/dL) | 1,171 (36.2) | 559 (49.1) | 217 (19.7) | 395 (31.2) | |
| Significant inflammation (3– <10 mg/dL) | 884 (25.9) | 328 (37.7) | 144 (15.6) | 412 (46.7) | |
| High significant inflammation (≥10 mg/dL) | 233 (6.7) | 76 (31.9) | 41 (15.7) | 116 (52.4) | 0.0367 |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) | |||||
| Normal (≤ 40 U/L) | 3,165 (96.1) | 1,617 (52.6) | 524 (16.2) | 1,024 (31.1) | |
| Elevated (>40 U/L) | 127 (3.9) | 51 (39.4) | 15 (12.5) | 61 (48.1) | |
| Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) | 0.0031 | ||||
| Normal (≤ 56 U/L) | 3,179 (96.4) | 1,634 (52.8) | 526 (16.2) | 1,019 (31.0) | |
| Elevated (>56 U/L) | 113 (3.6) | 34 (33.2) | 13 (13.0) | 66 (53.7) | |
| Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) | <0.0001 | ||||
| Healthy (<5.7%) | 1,902 (67.2) | 1,194 (62.5) | 287 (15.8) | 421 (21.7) | |
| Pre-diabetes (5.7–6.4%) | 953 (23.8) | 378 (36.4) | 185 (18.0) | 390 (45.5) | |
| Diabetes (≥6.5%) | 437 (9.0) | 96 (16.2) | 67 (13.1) | 274 (70.6) | |