Prevalence of Night Eating in Obese and Nonobese Twins

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of night eating (NE) and associated symptoms in a population‐based sample of Swedish twins. A total of 21,741 individuals aged 20–47 years completed a questionnaire in 2005/2006. NE was defined as ≥25% of daily food intake after the evening meal and/or awakening at least once per week with eating episodes. The prevalence of NE was 4.6% in men and 3.4% in women. Among obese men and women, the prevalence was 8.4 and 7.5%, respectively. Men and women with NE had 3.4 and 3.6 times higher risk of binge eating compared to individuals without NE. The risk of sleep‐related problems was 1.6–3.4 times higher in men and 2.5–3.3 times higher in women with NE compared to those without NE. This epidemiological study has estimated the prevalence of NE in a twin population. It revealed that NE is 2.5 and 2.8 times more common in obese men and women compared to normal weight men and women. Furthermore that NE is associated with binge eating and sleep‐related problems.

Excessive 5-year weight gain predicts metabolic syndrome development in healthy middle-aged adults

“…The major weight-related behaviors in late-adolescence are snacking and late-night eating [26] .Further more, a study on twins showed that night-time eating was significantly more common in obese subjects than in subjects with normal weight [27] . Because awareness of weight control is itself beneficial for the prevention of MetS [28] and our workers who gained excessive weight tended to snack in addition to regular meals, education and reminders of healthy dietary behaviors for employees are essential for MetS management in workplaces.…”

Associations of Waist-to-Height Ratio with Various Emotional and Irregular Eating, and Making Environment to Promote Eating in Japanese Adults: The Saku Cohort Study

“…While an association between various eating behaviors and a higher BMI or obesity or being overweight has been reported, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] the results of some eating behaviors remains controversial. 12,15 In addition, there are only a few studies focused on the relationship between eating behaviors and WHtR 26,27 and studies in adults are scarce.…”

“…16 Ohkuma et al 17 conducted a meta-analysis using 23 cross-sectional or longitudinal studies and concluded that eating quickly is positively associated with excess body weight. Other behaviors which have shown positive relationships with BMI or obesity or being overweight were emotional eating, 18,19 skipping breakfast, 20 night eating (awake during the night to eat) 21,22 and eating until full. 12,14 Eating between meals 23 and external eating 24 (eating in response to foodrelated stimuli, regardless of the internal state of hunger or satiety 25 ) were also associated with substantial weight gain.…”

“…Previous studies in adults reported significant positive relationships between BMI/obesity/overweight/weight gain and following eating behaviors: emotional eating, 18,19 night eating, 21,22 eating between-meals, 23 eating fast, [12][13][14][15][16][17] eating until full 12,14 and external eating. 24 In addition, although the subjects were children, it has been reported that eating quickly demonstrated a positive relationship with WHtR, 27 which was consistent with our results.…”

“…28 This questionnaire included 51 items regarding eating behaviors. After referring to previous studies examining the relationship between eating behaviors and BMI or WHtR, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]26,27 and a Dutch eating behavior questionnaire, 25 we selected 13 items from the JSSO questionnaire and categorized into emotional eating, irregularity of eating, eating fast, eating until full, and external eating (See Appendix). In addition, because it is suggested that the availability of foods at home has been positively associated with the actual consumption of foods among adolescents, 29 we chose four items from the JSSO questionnaire as "making environment to promote eating" (Appendix).…”