1 Obesity
One of the biggest risk factors is obesity. Although every person with obesity won't develop fatty liver, many will.

2 Age
Non-alcoholic liver disease rates have more than doubled in teens, with about 20% of teens and young adolescents showing the disorder. About 10% of adults have fatty liver disease. This statistic really isn't that unbelievable when the diet of teens and young adolescents is examined. They generally live on fast food, and/or high carbohydrate meals that cause increased triglyceride levels. The triglyceride levels increase in the liver and are the cause of the fat accumulation.

Fatty liver also occurs in ducks that are force fed grains in inhumane conditions. Their liver swells to a size 10 times normal and the ducks become very ill; yet some people consider the liver - called foie gras - to be a delicacy. With human children, you don't have to force feed them the high carb diet; they gravitate towards it on their own.

3 Diabetes
Those with diabetes are more at risk to develop a fatty liver for a few reasons. First of all, there's insulin resistance with diabetes, which is a direct insult on the liver and causes disorders of fat metabolism. Secondly, diabetes causes weight problems, and overweight/obesity creates a good environment for fatty liver disease.

4 High Cholesterol
Cholesterol is one of the fats that collects in the liver of those who have fatty liver.

5 High Blood Pressure
Hypertension affects the arteries negatively, including the portal artery and vein which are responsible for feeding the liver and removing its wastes. A blood vessel that is constricted, such as what happens in hypertension, is one that is not properly feeding the nearby organs and tissues.

6 Metabolic Syndrome
There's insulin resistance in those who have metabolic syndrome, which is a direct insult on the liver as stated in #3.

As you can see, many of the risk factors for developing fatty liver are ones that are easily avoidable. You can achieve and maintain ideal body weight, reverse diabetes, metabolic syndrome and high cholesterol as well as lower your blood pressure.