Washington, Nov 18 : A new research has explained that people who work in the night shifts are likely to burn less energy during a 24-hour period as compared to those who work on a normal schedule which ultimately increases their risk for weight gain and obesity.

The new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder suggested that people who work, and therefore eat, at night when their bodies are biologically prepared to sleep are prone to put on pounds.

Kenneth Wright, director of CU-Boulder's Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory and senior author of the paper, asserted that when people were on a shift work-type schedule, their daily energy expenditure was reduced and unless they were to reduce their food intake, this by itself could lead to weight gain.

During the experiment, participants' meals were carefully controlled, and they were given the amount of food they would normally need to eat at home to maintain their current weight. When the participants transitioned to the shift work schedule, the timing of their meals changed but the total amount of calories remained the same.

The researchers found that total daily energy used by participants decreased when they were put on a shift work schedule.

Wright continued that shift work went against their fundamental biology and shift work required their biological day to occur at night and their biological night to occur during the day and that was very difficult to achieve because the sun was such a powerful cue.

The research team found that the study participants burned more fat when they slept during the day compared to when they slept at night.

The new study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)