Breaking News English

Eating late at night might be making us sick

Late-night Eating - Level 0

Eating late at night is bad for us. We could get sick. A study says it increases the risk of obesity. Researchers said eating late makes us feel two times hungrier, so we eat more. When we eat earlier, we are less hungry, so we eat less. Later eaters eat unhealthier food. They also move around less, so they do not burn off calories.

Researchers looked at the eating habits of 16 overweight people. They were healthy. They ate regularly and exercised. They did not drink coffee or alcohol. They did not smoke, or take medicine or drugs. They kept a sleep diary so researchers knew their sleeping times. A researcher said it is better to stop eating at night.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Late-night Eating - Level 1

Eating late at night is bad for us. It could make us sick. A new study says eating before bedtime increases the risk of obesity. Researchers looked into why eating late increased the risk of weight gain. Eating late makes us feel two times hungrier, so we eat more. When we eat earlier, we are less hungry, so we eat less food. Later eaters also eat unhealthier food. They also move around less before sleeping, so they do not burn off calories.

Researchers looked at the eating habits of 16 people aged between 25 and 59. They were all overweight or obese, but were healthy. They ate regularly and exercised a little. They did not drink coffee or alcohol, and they did not smoke, or take medicine or drugs. They kept a sleep diary so researchers knew their sleeping times. A researcher said the study is telling us that, "it probably really is beneficial to stop eating late into the night".

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Late-night Eating - Level 2

Slowest

We all know eating late is bad for us. A new study says it could make us sick. Researchers say that eating before bedtime increases the risk of obesity. The researchers are linked to Harvard Medical School in the USA. They looked into why eating late increased the risk of putting on weight. They found that eating late doubles our feeling of hunger, so we eat more. When we eat earlier, we are less hungry, so we eat less food. Later eaters also eat unhealthier food, especially fast food. They also move around less before sleeping. This means they do not burn off calories.

The study was a small one. Researchers looked at the eating habits of 16 people between the ages of 25 and 59. They all had a high body mass index (BMI). They were all overweight or obese. However, they were in good health. They ate breakfast regularly and exercised a little. Before each test, they did not drink coffee or alcohol, and they did not smoke or take medicine or drugs. They kept a sleep diary so researchers knew their sleeping times. A researcher said: "I think what the study is telling us is that it probably really is beneficial to stop eating late into the night."

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Late-night Eating - Level 3

Many of us know that eating late is bad. A new study says that eating late at night could make us sick. Researchers say that eating a few hours before bed means there is a higher risk of obesity. The researchers are from Brigham and Women's Hospital, which is a teaching university linked to Harvard Medical School in the USA. The research team looked into why eating late increased the risk of gaining weight. It found that eating late increases hunger by as much as two times, so we eat more. When we eat earlier, we are less hungry, so we eat less food. Later eaters also eat unhealthier food, especially fast food. Finally, late eaters move around less before sleeping. This means they do not burn off calories.

The study was a small scale one. The researchers looked at the eating habits of five women and 11 men between the ages of 25 and 59. All of the participants had a high body mass index (BMI). They were all in the overweight or obesity BMI range. All of the people were in good health. They ate breakfast regularly and exercised a little. For two weeks before each test, the participants did not drink coffee or alcohol. They also did not smoke or take any medicine or drugs. They all had to keep a sleep diary so researchers knew their sleeping and waking times. Researcher Professor Kelly C. Allison said: "I think what the study is telling us is that it probably really is beneficial to stop eating late into the night."

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson