Lifetime medical and psychiatric comorbidity of night eating behavior in the Swedish Twin Study of Adults: Genes and Environment (STAGE)

The medical and psychosocial comorbidity of two core features of night eating syndrome (NES), evening hyperphagia (EH) and nocturnal awakening and ingestion of food (NI), was evaluated in adults enrolled in the Swedish Twin Study of Adults: Genes and Environment (STAGE) study. As part of the STAGE study, more than 20,000 participants completed assessments of their physical and mental health, which included two night eating screening questions designed to assess EH and NI. STAGE participants who completed a night eating validation interview to confirm the presence or absence of night eating and who had comorbidity data available (n=463) were compared on the lifetime prevalence of several psychiatric and medical conditions. In contrast to previous studies, night eating (EH and/or NI) was not significantly associated with lifetime history of any mental or physical health variable.