13
Eating Disorders and Obesity
Night-eating Syndrome (NES)
• At least 25% of daily food consumption
(often >50%) consumed after evening
meal
• Recurrent awakenings f rom sleep that
require eating to go back to sleep,
often involving carbohydrate-rich
snacks
• Little interest in breakfast (morning
anorexia)
• NES may occur in as much as 5% of the
U.S. population.
• Awareness of evening or nocturnal
ingestions help differentiate NES f rom
sleep-related eating disorder (SRED).
SRED is a parasomnia (undesired
events accompanying sleep) with
"sleep-walking" resulting in repeated
episodes of compulsive binge eating
and drinking after waking up at night.
SRED usually occurs while partially
awake and often with no memory of
the event afterward.
• Behavioral therapy
regarding nutritional
timing and content
• While not an indicated
use, selective serotonin
re-uptake inhibitors
(e.g., sertraline), or
anti-migraine/seizure
topiramate may be useful
for NES.
(cont'd)
