Nono, shidded cheese. OP is a hippopotamus after all.

Watershred moment.

it's an insomnia thing. you wake up at 2 am and Now You're Hungry and your damn belly won't let you go to sleep without a damn sip of milk or something silly like that.

It's not an American thing but I would argue it is how you were raised to view food things.

Many people have learned that food is a reward, that food is something you eat to smother you emotions, something you do when you're bored, something you do to feel anything at all.

Something to quell that never-ending hunger in your belly. raises hand . Turns out my family just has a history of undiagnosed acid reflux.

I've been to known to do this. When I was on a stimulant for ADHD, I would get ravenously hungry whenever it wore off, which was often late in the evening.

That doesn't really explain why it's such a trope, but my theory is that you're right about it being a US thing. It is common for us to eat dinner/supper early (like 5-7 pm) relative to some parts of Europe, which means that there's more time until breakfast and therefore we're more likely to get hungry late in the evening.

block cheese what you done gated with you teeth

what teeth

You think someone eating shredded cheese at 3am cares enough to brush their teeth?