In a recent study of mice, it was found that continued exposure to light at night led to weight
gain without eatimg more food.
Laura Fonken, lead author and a neuroscience doctoral student at Ohio State University said:
“Although there were no differences in activity levels or daily consumption of food, the mice that lived with light at night were getting fatter than the others.”
In fact the results showed a dramatic difference – mice exposed to a relatively dim light at night over the course of eight weeks had a body mass index gain of about 50% over the control group of mice that had the standard day/night, light/dark conditions.
The authors of the report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences think that light might disrupt the production of metabolism hormone, melatonin.
In attempting to explain the obesity epidemic currently afflicting many western nations, Randy Nelson, co-author of the study and professor of neuroscience and psychology at Ohio State said
“It may be that people who use the computer and watch the TV a lot at night may be eating at the wrong times, disrupting their metabolism. Clearly, maintaining body weight requires keeping caloric intake low and physical activity high, but this environmental factor may explain why some people who maintain good energy balance still gain weight.”