Night Eating Syndrome Causes and Treatments
Studies Shed Light on a Serious Eating Disorder
Oct 20, 2009
Dr. Albert Stunkard of the University of Pennsylvania’s Weight & Eating Disorders Program initially described this disorder in 1955, and in a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in May 2006, he stated that "Not only is night-eating syndrome an eating disorder, but one of mood and sleep as well... People who fall prey to this syndrome are not simply indulging in a bad habit. They have a real clinical illness, reflected by changes in hormone levels.”
Symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome
The signs and symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome vary from person to person, but these are the most common:
- The eating pattern has been present for more than two months
- The person does not eat breakfast, or delays eating for several hours after waking. They seem to have no guilt or remorse about their binge the previous night
- Sufferers will consume more food after dinner than before and during, sometimes consuming more than 60% of their calories after 7 p.m. One is compelled to eat even after having a large evening meal
- It is common for this person to become upset, anxious, tense or guilty while eating. Eating produces feelings of guilt, rather than pleasure
- Most sufferers have trouble falling or staying asleep, and commonly wake and eat during the night
- The foods ingested are usually sugary or starchy carbohydrates
- Eating is continual, unlike binge eating disorder, in which large amounts are consumed in a short space of time
Findings of the Study
Stunkard found in the study that sufferers of Night Eating Syndrome actually suffer from morning anorexia, often not eating anything all morning, and consuming few of their calories during the day.
It is normal for sufferers to become depressed during the day, and increasingly anxious and depressed throughout the night.
Stunkard states that nighttime snacking may actually be a way of self-medicating, because carbohydrate consumption tends to increase serotonin levels, leading to sleep.
Night Eating Syndrome sufferers also show distinctive hormonal changes relating to stress, hunger, and sleep. Melatonin is lower in night eaters, and the hormones leptin and cortisol are higher.
Ten million people, or 10% of all obese people, may suffer from this disease. Stunkard states that, "Night Eating Syndrome may represent a special kind of response to stress that afflicts certain vulnerable people,"
Treatment of Night Eating Syndrome
At present, the only treatment available is cognitive therapy and nutritional education and counseling.
Dr. Stunkard and his colleagues continue to research and study Night Eating Syndrome, and hope that these studies will lead to effective treatments in the future.
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