Who is included in studies of night eating syndrome? A scoping review of reported participant characteristics

Little is known about the participant demographics of those with Night Eating Syndrome (NES); as such, at-risk factors have not been identified. The current review focused on understanding the participant samples in NES studies. PubMed and PsychINFO were used to search for titles and abstracts using the term “night eating syndrome” from January 1, 2013, to March 23, 2025. Review studies, samples ages <18 years old, non-English language, and ≤10 NES participants were excluded. Two authors independently coded each article for eligibility to be included in this review, sample demographics, and sample inclusion/exclusion criteria. Of the 87 studies included in this review, over one-third of the articles reported no NES sample demographics at all. The most reported demographics were sex/gender (n = 50; 57.47 %), BMI/weight class (n = 44; 50.57 %), and age (n = 42; 48.28 %). Seventeen (19.54 %) studies used weight class or BMI as an inclusion criterion. The findings show that demographic data are infrequently and insufficiently reported in NES studies. Further, many of the NES studies reviewed included a focus on weight status. The review highlights the need to clearly report sample characteristics across the weight spectrum to improve knowledge about NES.