title: Migraine, weight gain and the risk of becoming overweight and obese: a prospective cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Some cross-sectional studies have suggested an association between migraine and increased body weight. However, prospective data on the association are lacking.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a prospective cohort study among 19,162 participants in the Women's Health Study who had a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5- <25 kg/m(2) at baseline. Migraine was self-reported by standardized questionnaires. Main outcome measures were incident overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2)), incident obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) and mean weight change. Age- and multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated for the association between migraine and incident overweight and obesity. Differences in weight change were evaluated by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 3,483 (18.2%) women reported any migraine history. After 12.9 years of follow-up, 7916 incident overweight and 730 incident obesity cases occurred. Migraineurs had multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% confidence interval) of 1.11 (1.05-1.17) for becoming overweight and 1.00 (0.83-1.19) for becoming obese. These associations remained stable after censoring for chronic diseases and were similar according to migraine aura status. Multivariable-adjusted mean weight change from baseline to the end of study was +4.7 kg for migraineurs and +4.4 kg for women without migraine (p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of this large prospective study of middle-aged women do not indicate a consistent association between migraine and incident overweight, obesity or relevant weight gain.
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA.
authors.forename: Anke C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Julie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Buring
authors.forename: Howard D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Sesso
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurth
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015430:Weight Gain