The numbers are not small
A 2023 meta-analysis published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology estimated NAFLD prevalence in India at approximately 38.6% of the general population, higher than the global average, and climbing fastest among people in their thirties and forties who report zero alcohol consumption. The condition has a newer name now: MAFLD, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, a label that drops the word "non-alcoholic" entirely because researchers concluded that alcohol was never the central variable. Fat accumulates in liver cells when the organ is overwhelmed by metabolic load. Drinking accelerates that process. So does everything else about the way most urban Indians eat and move.
