The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 12 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1526775
Spicy Food Intake and Overweight/Obesity in Rural Southwest China: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Public Health, Chongqing Rongchang District Health Committee, Chongqing, China
- 2 Center for mental health of Rongchang District, Chongqing, China, Chongqing, China
- 3 The People's Hospital of Rongchang District, Chongqing, China, Chongqing, China
- 4 Department of Public Health, The People's Hospital of Rongchang District, Chongqing, China, Chongqing, China
- 5 First Clinical College, Mudanjiang Medical College, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, Chongqing, China
- 6 Department of hospital information, The People's Hospital of Rongchang District, Chongqing, Chongqing, China
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 (OR=2.913, 95%CI:1.319-6.434) and frequency of spicy food intake (OR=1.300, 95%CI: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 ORs (95% CIs) 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..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.
Keywords: Spicy food, Intake, Overweight, Obesity, Gender difference
Received: 12 Nov 2024; Accepted: 14 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 HUALI, Peng, Fengxun, Dayi and DaiQiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhao Peng, The People's Hospital of Rongchang District, Chongqing, China, Chongqing, China
Tang Dayi, First Clinical College, Mudanjiang Medical College, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, Chongqing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.