People who have disrupted or insufficient sleep or those with chronic shuteye problems are more likely to become obese and develop diabetes.

Scientists studied 21 healthy adults only allowing them to sleep about six hours a night. The participants were also subjected to shifting sleep-wake cycles.

After six weeks, the participants showed higher blood sugar levels and lower resting “metabolic rates.”

According to metabolic rates, on average, the number of calories the participants burned at rest also dropped about 8 percent which if continued could lead to about 6 kilograms increase of the body weight in a year.

Higher blood sugar levels can lead to diabetes while low resting metabolic rates can cause obesity if not compensated by a lower calorie diet and more physical activity and exercise, researchers highlighted in their report published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

“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,” said senior researcher Orfeu M. Buxton of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“Since night workers often have a hard time sleeping during the day, they can face both circadian disruption working at night and insufficient sleep during the day," she added.

“The evidence is clear that getting enough sleep is important for health, and that sleep should be at night for best effect.”