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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2024 Nov;19(11):e13163.
doi: 10.1111/ijpo.13163. Epub 2024 Sep 2.

Effect of Indo-Mediterranean diet versus calorie-restricted diet in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A pilot randomized control trial

Aniket Deshmukh  1 , Vikrant Sood  1 , Bikrant Bihari Lal  1 , Rajeev Khanna  1 , Seema Alam  1 , Shiv Kumar Sarin  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of Indo-Mediterranean diet versus calorie-restricted diet in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A pilot randomized control trial

Aniket Deshmukh et al. Pediatr Obes. 2024 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Dietary interventions and increased physical activity are the cornerstones for management of the paediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Though, no specific diet has been proven superior, Indo-Mediterranean diet (IMD) has shown promise in adult literature. Thus, we aimed to compare the effect of IMD and a standard calorie-restricted diet (CRD) in Indian overweight children and adolescents with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Methods: Thirty-nine consecutive biopsy-proven NAFLD children between the ages of 8 and 18 years were randomized into either IMD or CRD for 180 days, and various parameters were evaluated at baseline and then after 180 days (NCT05073588).

Results: A total of 34 subjects (18 in IMD and 16 in CRD group) completed the study. There was a significantly higher decrease in controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) values (as a marker of hepatic steatosis; on transient elastography) (95% CI: 4.2-73.4, p = 0.042), weight (95% CI: 0.75-5.5, p = 0.046) and body mass index (BMI) (95% CI: 0.21-2.05, p = 0.014) (but not in Pediatric NAFLD Fibrosis Index or PNFI; as a marker of hepatic fibrosis) in IMD group compared to the CRD group. Liver stiffness measurement, serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels and HOMA-IR decreased only in the IMD group (p < 0.001). Our statistical model showed that delta-Weight was the only independent variable associated with delta-CAP.

Conclusion: Both IMD and CRD can improve the various anthropometric, clinical, imaging and biochemical parameters but IMD was superior to CRD in terms of reducing CAP values and weight/BMI over 180 days in overweight/obese NAFLD children.

Keywords: Controlled attenuation parameter; Indo‐Mediterranean Diet; liver stiffness measurement; non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease; non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis; transient elastography.

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References

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