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One in 100 Adults Affected by Sleep Eating

About one in 100 adults, mostly women, are affected by a little-known eating disorder called "sleep eating" (a disorder that often falls under the category "Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified" or EDNOS).

Sleep eaters get up as often as five times a night to eat, usually high-calorie foods that are high in sugar and fat. Some eat odd things such as paper or frozen foods. Many have been injured from using knives or walking into obstacles.

"Those who exhibit violence during sleep or scream or swear or masturbate or eat frozen ravioli or wander into the hallway in their underwear generally have no more of a psychological disorder than those who sleep peacefully at night," said University of Minnesota professor Carlos Schenck, an expert on sleep.

Labels: sleep, ednos

Posted By: Jane St. Clair

Comments:

Kensington on 9/7/2010
I knew a woman who did this. She would get up and do things like cook bacon on the coffee pot base (where the pot sits), then wake up with no memory of what happened. Just dirty dishes in the kitchen. It's a mysterious thing.