As shown in Figure 3, after adjusting for potential confounding factors including smoking, diabetes, hypertension, WC, BMI, TG, LDL-c, ALT, and AST, only middle-aged females (40–60 years) with low muscle mass had a significant risk of NAFLD (adjusted OR = 2.43, 95% CI = 1.19–4.95, P = 0.014); in contrast, low muscle mass increased the risk of NAFLD in males of any age, the ORs (95% CI) for NAFLD in males with low muscle mass were 3.76 (1.79–7.91) for those aged 18–39 years, 4.50 (2.16–9.39) for those aged 40–60 years and 4.10 (1.13–14.84) for those over 60 years. Here, GPT is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.