Is it normal to be hungry during the night?
It is not normal to wake up hungry and need to eat during the 5-7 hours that the average person is sleeping. However, if someone has been awake during the night either due to social activities (watching television, out with friends, et cetera) or due to working the night shift, they may develop a pattern of night time snacking or eating so that when they try to return to a routine day-night schedule and sleep during the night, they do wake up hungry. This is due to habitual eating and can be improved and often completely resolved by gradually decreasing the calorie intake at night and moving it to the daytime.
What is nocturnal eating disorder?
Just as people can walk or talk in their sleep, it is also possible to eat during sleep and to be completely unaware of this and unable to control it. Usually, people figure out that this is happening when they gain a lot of weight, with poor daytime appetites, or the results of their exploits (empty wrappers, crumbs, open containers) will be found in the kitchen or bedroom.
Mental health can trigger this behavior or can just occur on its own. Frequently, medications are used to suppress the part of the sleep cycle during which this occurs. These medications are usually continued for a few weeks until a meal-free nighttime is achieved and then gradually tapered off.