As excess body weight constitutes a major health problem, it is now important for hepatologists to weigh risk factors that lead to insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. This mini-review focuses on the type of bodily fat distribution that determines the ectopic fat storage into the liver in overweight or obese people. Although obesity is closely associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the excess of visceral fat storage is reckoned to be just as or even more important.