In May, ACSM published a new specialty communication, “Physical Activity and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Roundtable Statement from the American College of Sports Medicine” in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise® (MSSE). This statement provides consensus and recommendations that can serve as strong guidance for routine clinical management in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with regards to physical activity (PA).
“The ACSM Roundtable Statement on fatty liver disease and physical activity highlights the critical role that exercise can play in the prevention and treatment of this increasingly common condition which affects billions of individuals worldwide,” says roundtable co-chair and roundtable statement lead author Dr. Jonathan G. Stine, director of the Fatty Liver Program at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. “By emphasizing the importance of regular physical activity and offering specific guidelines for exercise programing, the statement empowers health care providers and fitness professionals alike to make a real difference in the lives of individuals at risk or living with NAFLD.”
The statement discusses the benefits of PA and provides recommendations for (a) PA assessment and screening, (b) how best to advise counsel and prescribe regular PA and (c) when to refer a patient with NAFLD to an exercise specialist.
This statement was developed using a Delphi technique with a multidisciplinary international panel of 19 academic experts from four countries and 18 academic institutions. A core group of five members developed the initial consensus statements following the individual and group systematic reviews.
Roundtables and other specialty conferences are developed and supported by ACSM’s Science Integration and Leadership Committee. ACSM members and journal subscribers can freely access the paper in the MSSE ahead-of-print section. Look for the published version in MSSE this summer.
The paper was led by Jonathan G. Stine, M.D., M.Sc., and Kathryn H. Schmitz, Ph.D., along with Michelle T. Long, M.D., M.Sc; Kathleen E. Corey, M.D., MPH, MMSc; Robert E. Sallis, M.D.; Alina M. Allen, M.D.; Matthew J. Armstrong, FRCP, Ph.D.; David E. Conroy, Ph.D.; Daniel J. Cuthbertson, Ph.D.; Andres Duarte-Rojo, M.D., Ph.D.; Kate Hallsworth, Ph.D.; Ingrid J Hickman, Ph.D.; Matthew R. Kappus, M.D.; Shelley E. Keating, Ph.D.; Christopher J.A. Pugh, P.hD.; Yaron Rotman, M.D., M.Sc.; Tracey L. Simon, M.D.; Eduardo Vilar-Gomez, M.D., Ph.D.; and Vincent Wai-Sun Wong, M.D.
For more information on round tables and specialty conferences, click here.