Objective To investigate the relationship between a body shape index (ABSI) and abnormal inflammation. Methods In May 2007, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 651 individuals by random sampling method in an urban community located in Chenghua district of Chengdu. We mainly assessed the relationship between ABSI and abnormal inflammation, which was defined as high sensitive C-reactive protein equal to 3 mg/L or higher. Results Logistic regression analysis showed that body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and ABSI were independently associated with abnormal inflammation. For identifying abnormal inflammation, WC had the best discriminatory power with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AROC) was 0.627 [95% CI (0.564, 0.689)], followed by BMI (AROC: 0.609) and ABSI (AROC: 0.608). In addition, combination with ABSI could improve the discriminatory power of BMI for abnormal inflammation, and AROC increased from 0.609 to 0.646. Combination with ABSI could also improve the discriminatory power of WC for abnormal inflammation, and AROC only increased from 0.627 to 0.631. Conclusions In the general Chinese population, ABSI is independently associated with abnormal inflammation, but the discriminatory power is poor, no better than BMI and WC. Furthermore, combination with ABSI can improve the discriminatory power of BMI and WC for abnormal inflammation, especially for BMI. Further studies about ethnic specificities of ABSI are needed.