AN ESTIMATED 5 to 10 per cent of Americans sleepwalk, reports The Washington Post, but there are no reliable estimates of how many people get up and eat in the middle of the night when they are neither hungry nor fully awake.
The majority of sleep eaters, experts say, do not have a daytime eating disorder, nor was their problem triggered by rigid dieting. Sleep eaters are no more likely to be obese than the general population. Nearly all sleep eaters show a preference for food high in carbohydrates and sugar, which is sometimes consumed in a sloppy frenzy.
Doctors say they've never heard of anyone making a beeline for salad in the middle of the night.
- www.globeandmail.com
Calling all sleep eaters:
Have you ever woken up with crumbs all over your face but can't remember eating anything before bedtime? If so, we want to hear from you. Contact us, but not during the night please, at lifestyle@gleanerjm.com; fax, 922-6223 or 948-1804; 922-3400 ext. 6057 or ext. 6216.
