Searching food during the night: the role of video-polysomnography in the characterization of the night eating syndrome

Ten out of 20 patients with night eating syndrome (NES) met the core criteria for evening hyperphagia, consuming at least 25% of their daily caloric intake after evening meals.

• Eight patients in the evening hyperphagia group experienced at least two episodes of nocturnal eating per week.
• The evening hyperphagia subgroup had longer eating latency, total episode duration, and sleep latency after eating offset compared to the nocturnal ingestion subgroup.
• Seven eating episodes were recorded in the evening hyperphagia group, with three occurring before sleep onset.
• Thirteen eating episodes were recorded in the nocturnal ingestion group, all occurring after an awakening from sleep.
• Different subtypes of NES may exist based on the patterns of nocturnal eating.

AI simplified