Table 1 Sample characteristics by frequency and strength of spicy food consumption

Never(<1 days/wk.)

Sometimes (1-2 days/wk.)

Often (3-4 days/wk.)

Usually (≥5 days/wk.)

Total

P value

Number

26,413

1728

1005

1179

30,325

Women (%)

72.66

71.82

69.05

68.87

72.34

0.003

Age (y)

62.16 ± 7.16

60.78 ± 6.67

60.85 ± 6.50

61.91 ± 6.95

62.02 ± 7.12

< 0.001

BMI (kg/m²)

23.67 ± 3.30

24.27 ± 3.32

24.48 ± 3.36

24.85 ± 3.33

23.77 ± 3.32

< 0.001

WHR

0.867 ± 0.068

0.867 ± 0.067

0.874 ± 0.066

0.878 ± 0.067

0.868 ± 0.068

< 0.001

Waist (cm)

78.56 ± 8.99

79.56 ± 8.87

80.26 ± 8.83

81.46 ± 9.14

78.79 ± 9.01

< 0.001

Education (%)

< 0.001

  ≤ Primary

44.35

32.89

33.07

34.44

42.94

 Middle School

47.39

54.95

53.89

49.62

48.13

  ≥ College or above

8.26

12.16

12.95

15.95

8.93

Household income (Yuan/year)

< 0.001

  < 10,000

6.04

3.82

3.39

3.48

5.73

 10,000-29,999

32.74

28.97

27.89

31.01

32.29

 30,000-49,999

20.92

23.87

23.31

21.75

21.20

  ≥ 50,000

16.14

22.54

21.41

22.85

16.94

 Don’t know

24.15

20.80

24.00

20.90

23.83

Smoking history (%)

< 0.001

 Never

81.21

79.88

76.52

75.45

80.76

 Ex-smoker

9.14

7.77

10.15

11.13

9.17

 Current smoker

9.65

12.35

13.33

13.42

10.07

Drinking status (%)

< 0.001

 Never

74.22

58.49

60.64

60.65

72.35

 Ex-drinker

3.45

4.10

4.90

3.58

3.54

 Current drinker

22.33

37.41

34.47

35.78

24.11

Occupation (%)

< 0.001

 Manual

62.30

55.67

51.85

51.28

61.15

 Non-manual

22.79

29.01

29.17

33.22

23.76

 Other

14.91

15.32

18.98

15.50

15.09

Physical activities (%)

0.332

 Inactive

8.14

7.64

7.36

7.97

8.08

 Minimally active

40.95

42.65

42.69

38.59

41.01

 Active

50.91

49.71

49.95

53.44

50.91

< 0.001

 Median

1774.72

1863.36

1883.67

1864.07

1787.86

 Interquartile range

(1452.79,2131.63)

(1495.88,2251.08)

(1560.90,2279.51)

(1473.05,2273.09)

(1458.57,2151.64)

< 0.001

 Median

252.07

259.77

270.72

263.92

253.65

 Interquartile range

(199.21,310.50)

(201.49, 325.29)

(214.45, 327.98)

(199.1, 329.61)

(199.89,312.83)

< 0.001

 Median

69.08

73.86

72.76

71.77

69.63

 Interquartile range

(56.03,84.63)

(59.63,89.04)

(58.50,87.70)

(57.74,89.75)

(56.37,85.30)

Daily fat intake(kcal/d)

< 0.001

 Median

55.12

59.23

60.17

58.85

55.69

 Interquartile range

(41.03,70.65)

(44.74,74.93)

(44.72,77.62)

(43.55, 75.62)

(41.45,71.34)

Never

Mild

Moderate

Strong

Total

P value

Number

26,413

2407

1121

380

30,321

Women (%)

72.66

73.74

67.26

56.58

72.34

< 0.001

Age (y)

62.16 ± 7.16

61.39 ± 6.72

60.77 ± 6.66

60.50 ± 6.89

62.02 ± 7.12

< 0.001

BMI (kg/m²)

23.67 ± 3.30

24.37 ± 3.29

24.66 ± 3.44

24.86 ± 3.35

23.77 ± 3.32

< 0.001

WHR

0.867 ± 0.068

0.872 ± 0.067

0.873 ± 0.067

0.881 ± 0.065

0.868 ± 0.068

< 0.001

WC (cm)

78.56 ± 8.99

79.98 ± 8.82

80.48 ± 9.08

81.92 ± 9.44

78.79 ± 9.01

< 0.001

Education (%)

< 0.001

  ≤ Primary

44.35

34.51

31.31

32.63

42.94

 Middle School

47.39

52.06

54.24

56.32

48.13

  ≥ College or above

8.26

13.43

14.45

11.05

8.93

< 0.001

  < 10,000

6.04

3.95

3.13

2.63

5.73

 10,000-29,999

32.74

29.52

28.71

29.74

32.30

 30,000-49,999

20.92

22.49

25.31

20.53

21.21

  ≥ 50,000

16.14

22.16

22.09

24.47

16.95

 Don’t know

24.15

21.87

20.75

22.63

23.83

Smoking history (%)

< 0.001

 Never

81.22

80.95

75.56

62.96

80.76

 Ex-smoker

9.14

9.23

9.10

11.38

9.17

 Current smoker

9.65

9.82

15.34

25.66

10.07

Drinking status (%)

< 0.001

 Never

74.22

62.29

56.74

51.59

72.35

 Ex-drinker

3.45

3.89

4.32

5.29

3.54

 Current drinker

22.33

33.82

38.94

43.12

24.11

Occupation (%)

< 0.001

 Manual

62.30

54.02

52.10

52.65

61.14

 Non-manual

22.79

28.96

32.05

33.86

23.76

 Other

14.91

17.02

15.85

13.49

15.09

Physical activities (%)

0.504

 Inactive

8.14

7.81

6.96

8.95

8.08

 Minimally active

40.95

40.47

43.53

41.58

41.01

 Active

50.91

51.72

49.51

49.47

50.90

Daily energy intake(kcal/d)

< 0.001

 Median

1774.72

1883.46

1815.78

1911.14

1787.86

 Interquartile range

(1452.79,2131.63)

(1538.36,2268.63)

(1452.68,2223.51)

(1521.69,2315.07)

(1458.58,2151.63)

Daily carbohydrate intake(kcal/d)

< 0.001

 Median

252.07

270.05

252.51

265.72

253.65

 Interquartile range

(199.21,310.50)

(208.29, 330.34)

(191.81, 318.42)

(201.28, 333.47)

(199.89,312.83)

Daily protein intake(kcal/d)

< 0.001

 Median

69.08

73.06

72.65

74.25

69.63

 Interquartile range

(56.03,84.63)

(58.92,88.05)

(57.39, 88.73)

(58.51,94.48)

(56.37,85.30)

Daily fat intake(kcal/d)

< 0.001

 Median

55.12

59.23

58.83

60.77

55.69

 Interquartile range

(41.03,70.65)

(44.48, 76.43)

(44.79,73.44)

(47.78,77.36)

(41.45,71.34)