{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T11:10:32Z","timestamp":1771931432931,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]],"date-time":"2026-02-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770768000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To address the limited evidence for public health interventions targeting night eating behavior (defined as eating between dinner and bedtime or waking to eat during sleep) in young and middle-aged T2DM patients in China, this qualitative interview study explored their real-life experiences, motivations, and influencing factors. Using the FBM, we identified night eating characteristics and developed corresponding behavioral subtypes to inform targeted public health strategies. From October to December 2024, 15 eligible patients were recruited from a tertiary grade A general hospital in China. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and data analyzed via Colaizzi\u2019s 7-step method. This study elucidated the dynamic night eating process, encompassing pre-eating triggers, psychological conflicts, emotional changes during eating, post-eating experiences, and subsequent coping behaviors. Six core influencing factors were identified (motivation, ability, triggers, dietary habits, psychological traits, sociocultural influences), and based on these, four subtypes were classified: \u201cphysiological stress-driven,\u201d \u201cemotional and psychological-driven,\u201d \u201csocial environment-induced,\u201d and \u201chealth cognitive bias-driven.\u201d The findings provide a localized, targeted basis for community diabetes management (e.g., subtype-specific screening tools, family-collaborative interventions). Furthermore, this study broadens the FBM\u2019s application in chronic disease behavior research and offers refined directions for personalized public health education and comprehensive disease management. It adhered strictly to the EQUATOR Network guidelines, an internationally recognized framework for reporting health research.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1718149","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]],"date-time":"2026-02-11T05:35:19Z","timestamp":1770788119000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Four night eating behavior subtypes in young and middle-aged adults with type 2 diabetes: insights for targeted public health interventions"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Lanlan","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hantian","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University","place":["Suzhou, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuehua","family":"Qin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lanlan","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuan","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e70012","DOI":"10.1111\/1753-0407.70012","article-title":"National burden and risk factors of diabetes mellitus in China from 1990 to 2021: results from the global burden of disease study 2021","volume":"16","author":"Deng","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Diabetes"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"109119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.diabres.2021.109119","article-title":"IDF diabetes atlas: global, regional and country-level diabetes prevalence estimates for 2021 and projections for 2045","volume":"183","author":"Sun","year":"2022","journal-title":"Diabetes Res Clin Pract"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"692450","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2021.692450","article-title":"Relationships between food groups and eating time slots according to diabetes status in 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