It's interesting to note that NAFLD began showing up about the same time as the obesity epidemic.
I'm still waiting for you to sing the praises of HFCS 42, since it offers so much less fructose than the sucrose it replaces.
It has less fructose than sucrose, and that may be a good thing, but I never had a problem with it as long as folks don't pig out on carbs, especially sweet carbs because they are addictive. They had to change the composition of placebos once they understood that the old sugar pills caused the release of endorphins.
I believe there was a confluence of unfortunate events in the 1970s and 80s. Corporal punishment of kids became an unacceptable form of discipline. Video games started taking hold of kids attention. HFCS55 could really be as much as 65 % fructose. Those who made soft drinks wanted to keep their market share. Why not make it as sweet as possible?
Parents were reduced to rewarding good behavior with sweets and providing enjoyable entertainment and punishing bad behavior by denying their kids access to those desires. It didn't help that playing video games and watching TV are sedentary activities.