Once the thirst or hunger has been satisfied, return to sleep occurs without difficulty. Nocturnal eating is primarily a problem in infancy.
Babies wake frequently during the night to nurse.
When children wake to eat or drink during the night parents often oblige. As a result, a learned response is set in the child and hence awakening for food becomes part of their routine. It is however usually outgrown. Although rare in adults, they too can awaken several times during the night craving food. We once had a patient in our lab who slept with her hand in a bag of potato chips.