According to a new study, not enough sleep or inconsistent sleep times could significantly increase the risk of diabetes and obesity.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston studied a total of 21 healthy participants in a controlled environment for six weeks. They regulated their diets activities, hours of sleep and sleep disruptions.

The researchers let the subjects sleep 10 hours per night at the beginning and the end of the study. However, in between they made their subjects sleep at all different times of day and night and made sure that they just got five and a half hours of sleep in each 24-hour period.

They found that sleep restriction along with sleep disruption resulted in decreased resting metabolic rate and higher glucose concentrations in the blood after eating due to poor insulin secretion by the pancreas. These symptoms can lead to weight gain and a risk of diabetes, according to researchers.

The study indicates how people working in shifts could face higher risk of obesity.

"We think these results support the findings from studies showing that, in people with a pre-diabetic condition, shift workers who stay awake at night are much more likely to progress to full-on diabetes than day workers," neuroscientist and lead study author Orfeu M. Buxton said in a statement.

The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.