Relationship between spicy flavor,spicy food intake frequency,and general obesity in a rural adult Chinese population: The RuralDiab study

Background and aims

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between spicy flavor, spicy food frequency, and general obesity in Chinese rural adults.

Methods and results

A total of 15,683 subjects (5907 males, 9776 females) aged 35–74 years from the RuralDiab Study were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Analysis of covariance was used to determine the differences of participant characteristics across body mass index (BMI) categories. Logistic regression yielded adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for obesity associated with the level of spicy flavor and frequency of spicy food intake. A meta-analysis was conducted to validate the result of the cross-sectional study. The crude and standardized prevalence of obesity were 16.78% and 17.57%, respectively. Compared with No spicy flavor, the adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of Mild, Middle, and Heavy spicy flavor for obesity were 1.232 (1.117–1.359), 1.463 (1.290–1.659), and 1.591 (1.293–1.958), respectively (P_trend < 0.001). Similarly, compared with no spicy food consumption, the adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of 1 or 2 days/week, 3–5 days/week, and 6 or 7 days/week were 1.097 (0.735–1.639), 1.294 (0.932–1.796), and 1.250 (1.025–1.525), respectively (P_trend = 0.026). The point estimate and 95% CI of mean BMI difference between the spicy food consuming group and spicy food non-consuming group was 0.37 (95% CI: 0.30–0.44) in the meta-analysis.

Conclusion

The data indicated that spicy flavor and spicy food frequency were positively associated with general obesity in Chinese rural populations.