Our bodies must work to stay warm when it’s cold, which means we expend more energy or calories. “Our love of warmth may be reducing our expenditure and contributing to the obesity ‘epidemic,'” she tells WebMD in an email. “The less time spent in the cold means less time when the body is burning energy to stay warm.”

But there is more to it. “It is also likely that a lack of exposure to cold reduces our capacity to generate heat, by diminishing brown fat stores,” she says.

Does Raising the Thermostat Increase Obesity?