The association between night eating syndrome and food preferences among Chinese college students: a large-scale cross-sectional study

Background and aims: Although the associations between NES and food preferences and the frequency of consumption of three meals a day have been examined among the European population, no studies have yet explored this association specifically among Chinese college students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between NES and food preferences and the frequency of consumption of three meals a day in Chinese college students. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design and included a sample of 11,856 Chinese university students, with an average age of 18.8 years (SD = 1.2 years). Food preferences were defined as five different food categories: fruits, vegetables, fast food (e.g. pizza, burgers, etc.), snacks (e.g. potato chips, crisps) and sugary beverages (e.g. soft drinks and sugary fruit drinks) and breakfast, lunch and dinner. The participants were invited to express their preferences for five food categories using a 5-point Likert scale, with the anchors "dislike very much" and "like very much". The frequency of consumption of three meals a day (including breakfast, lunch and dinner) was evaluated using a frequency scale ranging from 1 (once) to 7 (7 days per week). To evaluate the presence of Nocturnal Eating Syndrome (NES), we employed the Nocturnal Eating Questionnaire (NEQ) and the following criteria: no NES (total score < 25), mild NES (total score 25–30), and severe NES (total score > 30). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examined the association between the level of NES and each food preference and the frequency of consumption of three meals a day. Results After controlling for potential confounding variables including gender, age, annual household income, place of residence, father's education and mother's education, multivariate logistic regression analyses observed a significant positive association between NES and the likelihood of exhibiting 1–6 food behaviors. We further found that, in addition to the fast food and dinner, there were significant positive associations between NES and remained food preferences (including, fruit, vegetable, snack and soft drinks) and two meals (including breakfast and lunch). Conclusion The results of this study suggest a strong positive association between NES and food preferences, and meal regularity. This implies that individuals with severe NES may exhibit poor food preferences and irregular meal habits. These findings emphasize the importance of intervening in NES, a condition that can assist individuals to modify their food preferences selection and adopt the habit of three meals a day. Future studies should employ longitudinal prospective or randomized controlled designs to confirm the above associations.