Spicy food intake and overweight/obesity in rural Southwest China: findings from a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Spicy food is an essential part of the culinary culture in rural southwest China, while little is known about the association between spicy food intake and overweight/obesity. This study was undertaken to explore the association between spicy food intake and overweight/obesity by a cross-sectional study.

METHOD

We enrolled 2,995 individuals aged 30-79 years living in Rongchang, Chongqing municipality, southwest China from The China Multi-Ethnic Cohort Study, which was deemed to be the largest cohort study in southwest China. A multivariable-adjusted logistic regression model was applied to estimate the association between spicy food intake and overweight/obesity. Additionally, subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to verify the stability of the results.

RESULTS

A total of 81.67% of participants had the habit of consuming spicy food. The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity was 57.53%. Spicy food intake ( = 2.913, 95%: 1.319-6.434) and frequency of spicy food intake ( = 1.300, 95%: 1.164-1.452) were positively associated with overweight/obesity. Compared with the participants who never consumed spicy food, after adjusting for confounding factors, the adjusted s (95% s) in frequency of spicy food intake in 1-2 days/week, 3-5 days/week, 6-7 days/week subgroups were 3.985 (1.855-8.560), 4.381 (2.011-9.543), 6.515 (3.101-13.686), respectively. Subgroup analyses stratified by gender and age group, as well as sensitivity analyses, have consistently revealed a similar association between spicy food intake/the frequency of spicy food intake and overweight/obesity.

CONCLUSION

This study could provide additional evidence for overweight and the obesity epidemic among rural adults in southwest China. Reducing spicy food intake might benefit from weight management.