It was eleven o’clock and Will was raiding the refrigerator like he did every night.  He had barely eaten anything all day.  Will always found himself eating most of his food well after eight o’clock.  For some reason, he simply felt more comfortable eating late at night. This is especially since he and his girlfriend of three years, Chloe, had been fighting. Will was feeling stressed and upset, and he had been having lots of trouble sleeping at night.

Will’s situation may feel familiar to many of us.  We all crave the occasional Midnight Snack, especially when we’re having some trouble sleeping.  But when a person eats over fifty percent of his food after 6-8 PM, is experiencing large amounts of stress, and finds himself gorging on foods high in carbohydrates, he may be affected with Night Eating Syndrome. 

NES has only recently been brought to the attention of the medical world and the general public. Many believe it is caused more by stress (a body response) than emotion (a mental response). Additionally, a correlation has developed between NES and obesity.  

Little medical information is known about NES, but like any issue that may affect your health, it is important to be aware of your own eating habits.  Nobody's perfect; we can’t all eat healthy all the time, but we should be conscious of all the things entering our bodies, including food.