Scientists say that not getting a good night's rest could lead to obesity, the Daily Mail reported.

The researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, studied 17 normal, healthy young men and women for eight nights, with half of the participants sleeping normally and half sleeping only two-thirds their normal time.

The sleep deprived group, who slept one hour and 20 minutes less than the other group each day, consumed an average 549 additional calories daily. Meanwhile, the amount of energy used for activity didn't significantly change between groups, suggesting that those who slept less didn't burn additional calories and sleep deprivation may be a cause of weight gain and obesity.

(China.org.cn April 8, 2012)

據英國《每日郵報》報道，科學家認為，晚上睡眠不好會導致肥胖。

明尼蘇達州羅切斯特梅奧診所的研究人員對17位健康的青年男女進行了連續八個晚上的調查。他們中一半的人正常睡覺，另一半只睡平常睡眠時間的三分之二。

結果發現，雖然睡眠不足的這組比另一組每天少睡1小時20分鐘，但他們攝入的熱量卻比睡眠充足的那組人平均每天多549卡路里，可是兩組人在活動中消耗掉的熱量卻沒有明顯差別。這就是說，睡眠少的人并沒有燃燒掉額外攝入的熱量，而睡眠不足很可能是體重增加和肥胖的原因之一。