Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) and other metabolic diseases among whole adults of Blang ethnicity in Menghai county in Yunnan province. Methods A cross-sectional study with the census method was performed in this study. All residents of Blang ethnicity aged 18 or over from 5 administrative villages were recruited between February and March 2017. A total of 3365 individuals participated in this survey and eligible 3258 individuals with complete data were included. The data was obtained by questionnaires, physical examinations, blood assays and ultrasonography. The standardized prevalence was adjusted according to the sixth Chinese national census data in 2010. The multivariable Logistic regression was applied to reveal the risk factors for NAFLD. Results The overall standardized prevalence of NAFLD in our series was 16.7%, and of which, the prevalence of NAFLD in women was 19.9%, significantly higher than 13.6% in men (x²=4.896, P<0.05); the prevalence of NAFLD increased as the age increased among the overall population in among women (Ptrend<0.001); the multivariable Logistic regression analysis showed that when the age, gender, education, smoking, and drinking status adjusted, the likelihood of NAFLD in patients with overweight/obesity (OR: 21.6, 95% CI 16.8-27.9, P<0.05), central obesity (OR: 14.2, 95% CI 10.9-18.6, P<0.05), hypertension (OR: 3.7, 95% CI 2.8-4.9, P<0.05), hypertriglyceridemia (OR: 3.6, 95% CI 3.0-4.4, P<0.05), and diabetes (OR: 3.3, 95% CI 2.4-4.4, P<0.05)was significantly higher than that in their control group. Conclusion NAFLD is prevalent in Blang ethnic adults and the strongest association is found between obesity and NAFLD. The strict management of weight is a key measure to prevent NAFLD and other metabolic diseases in Blang ethnic adults.

Key words: Non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, Prevalence, Epidemiologic investigation, Blang nationality