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Night eating patterns and chronotypes: a correlation with binge eating behaviors
Ana Harb1, Rosa Levandovski, Ceres Oliveira
1Universidade Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS) Curso de Nutrição-Area Ciências da Saúde, Unisinos Avenue 950, São Leopoldo-ZIP: 93022-000, Brazil.
Psychiatry Research
|August 22, 2012
Summary
Chronotype, or your natural sleep-wake preference, is linked to disordered eating. Specifically, eveningness correlates with binge eating, suggesting chronotype is crucial for understanding eating patterns.
Area of Science:
- Chronobiology
- Nutritional Psychiatry
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- Individual differences in daily rhythms, known as chronotype, influence various physiological and behavioral processes.
- Eating patterns and the timing of food intake are increasingly recognized as significant factors in metabolic and mental health.
- Disordered eating behaviors, including binge eating and night eating, represent complex conditions with multifactorial origins.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between chronotype (morningness/eveningness) and specific disordered eating patterns.
- To explore the associations between chronotype, binge eating, and night eating, considering body mass index (BMI) and potential confounding factors.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 100 participants screened at a nutrition clinic.
- Utilized the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), Binge Eating Scale (BES), and Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ).
- Employed bivariate correlations and multivariate regression analysis to assess relationships and control for multicollinearity.
Main Results:
- Significant correlations were observed between MEQ scores and both BES and NEQ.
- BMI was correlated with BES and NEQ, but not MEQ, indicating BMI was not a confounder for the chronotype-eating association.
- After multivariate regression, only the association between MEQ and BES remained statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Chronotype is an important factor to consider when characterizing disordered eating.
- Further research into circadian intake patterns is warranted to differentiate conditions like binge eating disorder and night eating syndrome.
- Understanding chronotype may offer novel insights into the etiology and treatment of disordered eating behaviors.
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