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 ( 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.