Association between weight fluctuation and the risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease

Table 2 Effect of weight fluctuation and physical activity intensity on the risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease prevalence

Weight fluctuation assessment	Overall population		Low-intensity physical activity		Medium-intensity physical activity		High-intensity physical activity
	MASLD	OR (95%CI)	MASLD	OR (95%CI)	MASLD	OR (95%CI)	MASLD	OR (95%CI)
Weight fluctuation patterns
Mid-to-late adulthood
Stabilizing non-obesity	924	1	614	1	121	1.00 (0.71-1.40)	189	0.85 (0.64-1.13)
Obesity to non-obesity	159	1.21 (0.85-1.72)	113	1.21 (0.78-1.86)	19	0.90 (0.37-2.18)	27	1.27 (0.60-2.66)
Non-obesity to obesity	836	8.97 (7.40-10.88)1	571	9.46 (7.35-12.19)3	98	9.39 (5.85-15.07)3	167	6.24 (4.37-8.91)3
Stabilizing obesity	1264	11.87 (9.65-14.60)1	896	13.64 (10.59-17.57)3	145	11.65 (7.07-19.20)3	223	6.42 (4.24-9.72)3
Early adulthood
Stabilizing non-obesity	1051	1	702	1	140	0.96 (0.69-1.35)	209	0.84 (0.65-1.09)
Obesity to non-obesity	32	0.56 (0.26-1.22)	25	0.33 (0.15-0.71)	0	0.00 (0.00-0.00)	7	0.99 (0.33-2.94)
Non-obesity to obesity	1685	9.58 (8.08-11.37)1	1185	10.29 (8.43-12.55)	193	10.03 (6.44-15.61)	307	6.11 (4.48-8.32)
Stabilizing obesity	415	12.51 (9.33-16.78)1	282	16.14 (11.00-23.70)	50	10.05 (5.75-17.56)	83	5.74 (3.27-10.11)
Net weight change
Mid-to-late adulthood
≤ -2.5 kg	617	0.67 (0.51-0.90)	432	0.65 (0.46-0.93)	70	0.58 (0.33-1.02)	115	0.52 (0.32-0.85)
-2.5 to 2.5 kg	435	12	305	14	56	0.85 (0.45-1.60)	74	0.74 (0.43-1.26)
2.5-10 kg	846	1.37 (1.09-1.73)	570	1.39 (1.01-1.90)	109	1.11 (0.68-1.80)	167	0.98 (0.65-1.48)
10-20 kg	728	2.03 (1.57-2.62)2	485	1.92 (1.32-2.78)	96	2.47 (1.47-4.15)	147	1.20 (0.72-2.01)
> 20 kg	557	4.78 (3.37-6.76)2	402	4.93 (3.17-7.65)	52	3.10 (1.38-6.96)4	103	3.69 (2.10-6.46)4
Early adulthood
≤ -2.5 kg	163	0.97 (0.54-1.74)	119	1.02 (0.50-2.10)	16	0.62 (0.18-2.13)	28	0.72 (0.32-1.62)
-2.5 to 2.5 kg	111	1	73	1	12	0.71 (0.30-1.69)	26	0.86 (0.42-1.76)
2.5-10 kg	405	1.36 (0.92-2.02)	265	1.48 (0.87-2.51)	53	1.05 (0.53-2.09)	87	0.92 (0.50-1.70)
10-20 kg	885	2.49 (1.71-3.61)	571	2.27 (1.37-3.77)	119	2.56 (1.52-4.32)	195	2.04 (1.25-3.36)
> 20 kg	1619	5.73 (3.66-8.98)	1166	5.89 (3.41-10.17)	183	5.33 (2.88-9.89)	270	3.53 (1.96-6.34)

¹Odds ratio (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease prevalence risk) for two patterns of weight change, non-obesity to obesity or stable obesity, 10 years before baseline and at 25 years old, compared with stabilizing non-obesity.

²Odds ratio (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease prevalence risk) for two patterns of net weight change, weight gain of 10-20 kg and weight gain greater than 20 kg, 10 years before baseline to baseline, compared with weight fluctuations of less than 2.5 kg.

³Odds ratio (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease prevalence risk) of different exercise intensities in two weight change patterns, non-obesity to obesity or stable obesity, 10 years before baseline, compared with stabilizing non-obesity.

⁴10 years before baseline to baseline, the odds ratio (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease prevalence risk) was higher for high-intensity exercise than for moderate-intensity exercise, in the group that net weight change > 20 kg, compared with net weight change within 2.5 kg.

Table 2 presents the effects and correlations between the three exercise intensity levels and the prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease across distinct population groups. The analysis stratified participants into four distinct body weight fluctuation patterns and five net weight change categories, with temporal differentiation between mid-to-late adulthood and early adulthood observations. MASLD: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; OR: Odds ratio.