Does eating a fourth meal (siu-yeh) before bedtime affect sleep quality and dream experiences?

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between night eating, sleep quality, and dream experiences. A total of 215 Hong Kong participants completed the Night Eating Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Dream Intensity Scale and answered some questions about their frequency of food intake between dinner and bedtime, food choice for night eating, and beliefs regarding the effects of night eating and satiety on dreams. The overall results indicate that night eating as a pathological propensity or normal habit is positively related to the phenomenological experience of dream intensity and this relationship is moderated but cannot be fully explained by sleep quality or the beliefs about the effects of night eating and satiety on dreams. Additionally, night eating is extremely common in Hong Kong and is related to poor sleep quality. However, the feeling of satiety before bedtime does not appear to modulate subjective dream intensity.