Number of incident asthma cases and adjusted relative risk(RR) for incident asthma by self-reported change in body mass index (ΔBMI)# and for three-unit increase in ΔBMI¶
| <2.5 | 2.5–4.9 | 5.0–7.4 | 7.5–9.9 | ≥10 | Increase in ΔBMI | |
| Incident asthma n (%) | 1903 (2.7) | 1235 (4.1) | 377 (5.6) | 119 (7.5) | 72 (9.8) | 3706 (3.4) |
| RR+ | Ref | 1.5 (1.4–1.6) | 1.9 (1.7–2.1) | 2.5 (2.1–3.0) | 3.3 (2.6–4.1) | 1.35 (1.31–1.39) |
| RR§ | Ref | 1.4 (1.3–1.6) | 1.8 (1.6–2.0) | 2.3 (1.9–2.7) | 2.9 (2.2–3.6) | 1.31 (1.27–1.35) |
| RRƒ | Ref | 1.3 (1.2–1.4) | 1.5 (1.3–1.7) | 1.7 (1.4–2.1) | 2.0 (1.5–2.5) | 1.21 (1.16–1.26) |
Relative risk data are presented with 95% confidence interval in parentheses; ΔBMI are shown in kilogrammes per metre squared. Ref: reference group. #: the direction of the change was ignored; ¶: 8,861 individuals were excluded because of missing data for ΔBMI or for one or more of the variables adjusted for; +: adjusted for sex, age (year of birth) and smoking category; §: additionally adjusted for education, physical activity, disability pension and rural/urban status; ƒ: additionally adjusted for BMI.