Investigators may have uncovered a new factor contributing to the rising incidence of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease among Latinx pediatric patients, according to a recent study published by Maxwell et al in Pediatric Obesity. Although food insecurity has been linked to the condition in adult patients, there have been few studies exploring its impact in pediatric patients. In the recent study, investigators recruited pregnant Latina patients and followed their children from early to mid-childhood to determine the effect of household food insecurity at 4 years of age on the development of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease using a validated U.S. Household Food Insecurity Food Module. Among the 136 pediatric patients involved in the study, the investigators found that 28.7% experienced food insecurity at 4 years of age and 27.2% developed metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease by middle childhood. They noted that exposure to food insecurity at 4 years of age was correlated with a 3.7-fold increased likelihood of developing the disease in childhood. Further, a greater proportion of the patients with metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease experienced food insecurity compared with those without the disease (49.0% vs 21.0%). In a companion press release on the findings from the University of California, San Francisco, the study authors concluded: “[W]e believe screening for [metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease] should begin earlier than current guidelines recommend. Food insecurity screening is also important early on, especially for Latinx children who are at higher risk and could be connected to healthier food resources in their communities.”