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Night eating syndrome is a situation in which people eat large amounts of food after the evening meal, often waking up during the night to eat. People with this situation may delay their first meal of the day for many hours. Experts still do not know very much about night eating syndrome, but they continue to study the situation.
What causes night eating syndrome?
Doctors are not sure what reason night eating syndrome. But some studies show that it may be related to problems with the sleep-wake cycle and certain hormones.
People with night eating syndrome do remember eating during the night. They generally do not feel hungry in the early part of the day. They may delay their first meal of the day for many hours. Then later, after the evening meal, they may eat more than a quarter of the food they eat each day.
This pattern of eating cannot be explained by changes in the person’s sleep schedule or local social routines (for example, a custom of eating late at night). People with this problem feel upset about their night eating.
People with night eating syndrome also have sleep problems, including difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. People with this problem are more likely to be obese. And depression is common in people who have night eating syndrome.
Night eating syndrome is different from binge eating disorder. People with binge eating disorder generally do not have episodes of binge eating during the night (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.). But if they do, they eat large amounts of food in a single sitting. People with night eating syndrome tend to eat smaller amounts of food many times during the night.
Signs of Night Eating Syndrome
Those with night eating syndrome may be overweight or obese. They feel like they have no control over their eating behavior, and eat in secret and when they are not hungry. They also feel shame and remorse over their behavior.
They may hide food out of shame or embarrassment. Those with night eating syndrome typically eat rapidly, eat more than most people would in a similar time period and feel a loss of control over their eating. They eat even when they are not hungry and continue eating even when they are uncomfortably full. Feeling embarrassed by the amount they eat, they typically eat alone to minimize their embarrassment. They often feel guilt, depression, disgust, distress or a combination of these symptoms.
Those with night-eating syndrome eat the majority of their food during the evening. They eat little or nothing in the morning, and wake up during the night and typically fill up on high-calorie snacks.
Treating Night Eating Syndrome
As with other eating disorders, successful treatment of night eating syndrome typically requires a combination of therapies.
Treatment for night eating syndrome typically begins with educating patients about their condition, so they are more aware of their eating patterns and can begin to identify triggers that influence how they eat. Just identifying that they have night eating syndrome and that it is not their fault can be an essential first step toward recovery.
Treatment of night eating syndrome also contains nutrition assessment and therapy, exercise physiology, and integration of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), interpersonal therapy (IT) and stress management. An additional online component may also help patients gain control over their disorders.
How is night eating syndrome diagnosed?
To find out if you have night eating syndrome, your doctor will ask questions about your medical history and eating patterns. Night eating syndrome often occurs along with sleep problems, so your doctor may want to do tests of your sleep (polysomnography).