The Real About Night Eating Syndrome

Night eating syndrome (NES) is not as simple as it sounds. Clinicians don’t widely recognize NES, but we want to help you understand what Night eating syndrome is and is not.

Let’s be clear if you wake up in the middle of the night to grab a snack, that doesn’t mean you have NES. While this is one of the factors that can help your primary care physician, other scientific factors help determine a proper diagnosis. Oh, and NES only affects 1.1-1.5% of the general population.

One of the other factors that determine an NES diagnosis is the volume of food consumed after your evening meal. Eating a granola bar, a piece of fresh produce, or sneaking a pastry is ok, but full meals and overeating could be a cause for concern. Sleeping patterns, BMI, and psychiatric disorders have also been associated with NES.

Now, this isn’t to scare you; again, this syndrome affects a relatively small amount of people. We want our community to be informed and be able to understand when they need to seek support. If you’re struggling with the factors mentioned above, your primary care provider can help you learn about NES. If you don’t have a primary care provider, send us an email, and we’ll get you connected with our partners at All Around Health Care.