The study examined four new obesity indices (VAI, LAP, BRI and WWI) for their ability to detect MAFLD in Chinese children aged 6–14 years. 1,214 children were included in the research, of which 205 (16.8%) were diagnosed with MAFLD. All four new indices of obesity showed a significant association with MAFLD in children. The body circumference index (BRI) proved to be the best screening tool with the ability to achieve an AUC of 0.929 in the subgroup with a higher degree of fatty liver infiltrate. The BRI was comparable to traditional measures of BMI and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and significantly outperformed waist circumference (WC). The authors conclude that the BRI is a simple, reliable and clinically useful tool for the early detection of MAFLD risk in children.