A recent finding has got obese people in the U. S. smiling. A study conducted in mice left them leaner than their normal counterparts. This could be treated as a new way of controlling obesity, US researchers said.

In the United States, where around a third of the adult population has a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30, this is big news.

By turning potassium channels off sensitive to a molecule in cells that helps store energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) the researchers found that mice burnt more energy and were leaner than their normal counterparts.

Then impact came out clearly after feeding the mice with a high-fat diet for long. Even after this diet the mice remained slim throughout their lives, scientists from the Mayo Clinic, University of Iowa, University of Connecticut and New York University reported in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Mayo Clinic's Alexey Alekseev, lead author of the study, said, "While mechanisms that preserve energy are naturally protective -- in times of food shortage or environmental stress -- they promote obesity in a sedentary, modern society."