TY - JOUR T1 - Late-breaking abstract: A prospective study of central obesity, overall obesity and incident asthma in adults JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p1013 AU - Ben Brumpton AU - Arnulf Langhammer AU - Pål Romundstad AU - Yue Chen AU - Xiao-Mei Mai Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p1013.abstract N2 - Introduction: Measures of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) define overall obesity and central obesity respectively. While high BMI has been established as a risk factor for asthma in adults, WC has seldom been investigated.Aims and objectives: We conducted a prospective cohort study to investigate the individual and combined effect of central obesity and overall obesity on adult incident asthma.Methods: A total of 23,245 adults without asthma, 19-55 years of age from the second Norwegian Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), were followed for 11 years. WC and BMI were measured and categorised as central obesity (WC ≥88cm in women and ≥102cm in men) and overall obesity (BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2). Incident asthma was self reported asthma during the follow up. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by logistic regression models adjusted for age, smoking status, education, family history, physical activity, social benefit, economical difficulty and sex.Results: Of the 23,245 adults in the analysis, 12% (n=2,792) were overall obese, 13.6% (n=3,170) were centrally obese at baseline and 3.5% (n=818) had asthma during the 11-year at follow up. Central obesity in the absence of overall obesity was significantly associated with incident asthma (OR 1.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-1.91). The OR for overall obesity in the absence of central obesity was 1.38 (95% CI 0.96-2.00), similar to central obesity alone. Central obesity combined with overall obesity (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.48-2.23) is compatible with an additive effect of BMI and WC on asthma.Conclusion: Central obesity and overall obesity seem to have an individual effect on incident asthma in adults and an additive effect when in combination. ER -