Sleep deprivation is a common source of stress that has been linked to stress eating in people who are prone to emotional eating. Emotional eating refers to eating as a way of dealing with uncomfortable emotions or stress. Research has shown that high levels of stress can make some people more likely to seek out high-fat, high-sugar foods.
Inadequate sleep and other sleep problems are also associated with binge eating. Binge eating is an eating disorder that is defined by episodes of eating a large amount of food during a short period of time. During these binges, people feel that they have lost control over their food consumption.
People who have binge eating disorder are more likely to experience poor quality sleep, insomnia, inadequate amounts of sleep, and daytime sleepiness. However, it is not clear whether the sleep problems cause the binge eating, binge eating interferes with sleep, or whether both eating and sleeping problems are caused by other factors, such as stress.