Unhealthy aspects of the Westernized lifestyle, such as overeating, combine with inadequate amount of nightly sleep on a recurring basis may increase the development of diabetes, say a new study.

With his colleagues, Dr. Plamen Penev, of the University of Chicago, Illinois, and a senior author of the study, subjected 11 healthy but sedentary middle-aged men and women to two 14-day periods of sedentary living with free access to food and either 5.5 hours or 8.5 hours of sleep each night.

The participants went to sleep later and wake up earlier, resulting their average sleep duration was reduced by about two hours a day (nightly sleep times changed from 8.5 to 5.5 hours).

This condition changed their response to two common sugar tests, which were similar to those seen in people with an increased risk of developing diabetes.

Penev told reuters, "If confirmed by future larger studies, these results would indicate that a healthy lifestyle should include not only healthy eating habits and adequate amounts of physical activity, but also obtaining a sufficient amount of sleep."