Body mass index trajectories from birth to adolescence and their association with asthma: a longitudinal study of the Leicester Respiratory Cohorts
- 1University of Bern
Abstract
INTRODUCTIONAsthma has been associated with obesity in both adults and children. We investigated the association between longitudinal BMI trajectories and asthma at ages 8-9, 12-13, and 16-17 years in a UK cohort of White and South Asian children and adolescents.
METHODSWe analysed data from the Leicester Respiratory Cohorts, population-based cohort studies that recruited 0-4-year-old children in 1990 (N = 1650) and 1998 (N = 8700) and followed them up until 2010. Outcome data on asthma came from postal questionnaires throughout infancy, childhood, and adolescence. BMI data came from birth records, well-child visits, questionnaires, and a clinical study visit. We used Group-based trajectory modelling to identify distinct BMI trajectories and used multivariable logistic regression to investigate the association with asthma.
RESULTSOut of 10,350 participants in the Leicester Respiratory Cohorts, we were able to model BMI trajectories for 5571 (54%); 1801 (17%) had information on asthma at 8-9 years of age, 1269 (12%) at 12-13 years, and 575 (6%) at 16-17 years. We identified five BMI trajectories: stable normal BMI (47%), persistent low BMI (30%), early overweight resolving (8%), childhood onset obesity (4%) adolescent onset overweight (11%). The persistent low BMI trajectory was associated with lower odds for asthma at age 8-9 years (0.56 [0.37-0.83]) and 12-13 years (0.38 [0.22-0.63]). Early overweight resolving was very similar to the reference stable normal BMI. The childhood onset obesity trajectory was associated with higher odds for asthma at 16-17 years (5.58 [1.35-24.40]). The adolescent onset overweight trajectory was not associated with asthma. When analysed separately, boys and girls and children of European and South Asian ancestry showed similar associations.
CONCLUSIONThis study strengthens the current understanding of obesity as a contributing factor in asthma development and highlights that early intervention and management of overweight and obesity in childhood, to achieve a normal BMI, may prevent secondary health impairments such as asthma.
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BibTeX
@misc{leuenberger2026body,
title = {{Body mass index trajectories from birth to adolescence and their association with asthma: a longitudinal study of the Leicester Respiratory Cohorts}},
author = {L. M. Leuenberger and F. N. Belle and M. Sasaki and M. Goutaki and B. D. Spycher and D. K. H. Lo and E. A. Gaillard and C. E. Kuehni},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.31.26361659},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.26361659v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Body mass index trajectories from birth to adolescence and their association with asthma: a longitudinal study of the Leicester Respiratory Cohorts
AU - L. M. Leuenberger
AU - F. N. Belle
AU - M. Sasaki
AU - M. Goutaki
AU - B. D. Spycher
AU - D. K. H. Lo
AU - E. A. Gaillard
AU - C. E. Kuehni
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.31.26361659
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.26361659v1
AB - INTRODUCTIONAsthma has been associated with obesity in both adults and children. We investigated the association between longitudinal BMI trajectories and asthma at ages 8-9, 12-13, and 16-17 years in a UK cohort of White and South Asian children and adolescents. METHODSWe analysed data from the Leicester Respiratory Cohorts, population-based cohort studies that recruited 0-4-year-old children in 1990 (N = 1650) and 1998 (N = 8700) and followed them up until 2010. Outcome data on asthma came from postal questionnaires throughout infancy, childhood, and adolescence. BMI data came from birth records, well-child visits, questionnaires, and a clinical study visit. We used Group-based trajectory modelling to identify distinct BMI trajectories and used multivariable logistic regression to investigate the association with asthma. RESULTSOut of 10,350 participants in the Leicester Respiratory Cohorts, we were able to model BMI trajectories for 5571 (54%); 1801 (17%) had information on asthma at 8-9 years of age, 1269 (12%) at 12-13 years, and 575 (6%) at 16-17 years. We identified five BMI trajectories: stable normal BMI (47%), persistent low BMI (30%), early overweight resolving (8%), childhood onset obesity (4%) adolescent onset overweight (11%). The persistent low BMI trajectory was associated with lower odds for asthma at age 8-9 years (0.56 [0.37-0.83]) and 12-13 years (0.38 [0.22-0.63]). Early overweight resolving was very similar to the reference stable normal BMI. The childhood onset obesity trajectory was associated with higher odds for asthma at 16-17 years (5.58 [1.35-24.40]). The adolescent onset overweight trajectory was not associated with asthma. When analysed separately, boys and girls and children of European and South Asian ancestry showed similar associations. CONCLUSIONThis study strengthens the current understanding of obesity as a contributing factor in asthma development and highlights that early intervention and management of overweight and obesity in childhood, to achieve a normal BMI, may prevent secondary health impairments such as asthma.
ER -