Reasons for Late-Night Eating and Willingness to Change:A Qualitative Study in Pregnant Black Women

Abstract

Objective: Late night eating during pregnancy is associated with greater risk for gestational diabetes. The purpose of this study was to describe reasons that women engage in late night eating and understand perceptions about changing this behavior.Design: Focus groups using a semi-structured interview script.Setting: Urban university-affiliated obstetric clinic.Participants: Low-income black women (n=18) with overweight/obesity at entry to prenatal care. Phenomenon of interest: Late night eating.Analysis: Exhaustive approach coding responses to specific questions.Results: Individual and interpersonal contributors to late night eating included hunger, altered sleep patterns, fetal movement, and the influence of others. Food choices were largely driven by taste and convenience. Some women reported that they could alter nightly eating patterns, while

Chrononutrition during Pregnancy: A Review on Maternal Night-Time Eating

“…It has been documented that pregnant women tend to experience nausea in the morning, causing them to eat less during the day but more at night [32]. This was supported by a study in Brazil following pregnant women from 4 to 37 weeks gestation, showing breakfast skipping was more prevalent in night eaters than day eaters throughout pregnancy [18].…”

“…To our knowledge, only one study to date has explored the reasons for night eating among pregnant women. Based on a qualitative survey involving 18 pregnant African American women (27-38 weeks gestation) who regularly ate between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., altered sleep schedules, hunger, thirst, nausea, fetal movement and personal choice were the common reasons for night eating [32]. These women reported having difficulty sleeping at night, which caused them to wake up later in the morning and delay their entire meal timing throughout the day [32].…”

“…Based on a qualitative survey involving 18 pregnant African American women (27-38 weeks gestation) who regularly ate between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., altered sleep schedules, hunger, thirst, nausea, fetal movement and personal choice were the common reasons for night eating [32]. These women reported having difficulty sleeping at night, which caused them to wake up later in the morning and delay their entire meal timing throughout the day [32]. This is supported by a study conducted in 266 Polish women (28-41 weeks gestation), showing that night eating was associated with insomnia during pregnancy, although any causal-effect relationship is unclear [22].…”

“…In a qualitative survey by Kroeger et al [32], a number of women reported constantly feeling hungry during pregnancy. Some of them regularly woke up at a specific time during the night to eat and drink due to hunger and thirst.…”

“…However, the role of appetite in night waking behavior during pregnancy is uncertain. It has been proposed that such a phenomenon may plausibly be due to impaired fat oxidation in these women [32]. Fatty acids are the main energy source during overnight fasting [35,36].…”