Maternal Prepregnancy Health, Early Life Nutrition Linked to ALT Levels

MONDAY, June 22, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Maternal prepregnancy hypertension and a child's nutrition are associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, according to a study published online June 9 in The Journal of Pediatrics.Hanna de Ruyter, M.D., from the Tampere Center for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research in Finland, and colleagues examined associations of perinatal and lifestyle factors with ALT levels as an early indicator of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) using data from a population-based study conducted among 736 Finnish schoolchildren. Overall, 488, 421, and 255 children were included in midchildhood, late childhood, and adolescence, respectively (aged 7 to 8, 9 to 11, and 15 to 17 years).The researchers observed significant associations of children's ALT in midchildhood and adolescence with prepregnancy hypertension (β = 0.155 to 0.157). In late childhood, positive associations were seen for higher waist-to-height ratio and visceral adiposity by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry with ALT, independent of body mass index standard deviation score (β = 0.246 to 0.377). Higher insulin levels and dyslipidemia in adolescence were positively associated with ALT (β = 0.184 to 0.378). Intake of protein and animal and dairy products in late childhood (β = 0.121 to 0.184) and intake of protein and fish in adolescence (β = 0.154 to 0.280) were positively associated with ALT, while a negative association was seen for intake of vegetables, fruit and berries, and fructose (β = −0.135 to −0.141)."This suggests that maternal cardiometabolic health in the prenatal period may contribute significantly to the development of MASLD in the offspring," de Ruyter said in a statement.One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Maternal Prepregnancy Health, Early Life Nutrition Linked to ALT Levels

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