Tempted by snacks before bed? Here's why - and what you can do about it

You've eaten dinner, you're comfortably full, and yet half an hour later you're raiding the kitchen cupboards. Sound familiar? Research suggests about a third of people , external are snacking every night after their evening meal - for those aged 18-24, four in five are unable to resist.

Dietitian Dr Kristine Beaulieu says this spells trouble. She points to evidence showing that the more people eat , external within two hours of going to bed, the "greater the odds" of weight gain and obesity. Despite the fact we spend longer going without food when we are sleeping, research suggests our appetite naturally peaks in the evening, almost regardless of how much we have eaten earlier in the day.

Prof James Betts, who researches how the body handles food and energy at the University of Bath, says a big factor is that our "hunger hormone" ghrelin is generally higher later in the day.