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Researchers Take a New Look at Night Eating Syndrome

Lynne Lamberg

JAMA. 2003;290:1442.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Chicago—Individuals with night eating syndrome (NES) rise from their beds once or twice a night to snack, consuming one third or more of their daily food intake after their evening meal. Stress usually triggers such behavior, says psychiatrist Albert Stunkard, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, who first described it nearly 50 years ago (Am J Med. 1955;19:78-86).

NES may develop in individuals whose weight is normal—at least initially. An estimated 7% of patients in obesity clinics, and 27% of those seeking bariatric surgery have NES, Stunkard said in an interview.

The condition involves a dysregulation of the circadian pattern of food intake, Stunkard noted. When eating occurs at the wrong time on the body clock, it disrupts sleep. Stunkard and colleagues monitored sleep/wake activity over a week in 40 adults with NES who had a mean BMI 35 or higher . . . [Full Text of this Article]