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The first prospect of bad news or regular gloomy bulletins on TV can have people seeking 'comfort foods' which are high in calories, thus increasing the chances of obesity, a recent study suggests.

The research was led by Juliano Laran from the School of Business Administration of the University of Miami and the results were published in the journal Psychological Science.

According to scientists, people's reaction on seeing bad or gloomy news is to 'live for the day', as a result of which they opt for foods which are high in calories and hence increase their obesity. In order to slim down or maintain weight, the best idea would be to avoid watching gloomy bulletins on TV and radio as much as possible.

As a part of the research, the volunteers were asked to take a supposed "taste test", where they were given two bowls of sweets. Although their calorie content was equal, volunteers were told that the calorie content in one of the bowls was very high. The volunteers were divided in two groups: one group was shown posters with neutral lines and the other group was shown posters depicting gloom in the form of description of the struggle and economic problems.

Scientists observed that the volunteers who watched the depressing news consumed 40 percent more sweets, out of which 70 percent was what they perceived as high-calorie sweets. On the other hand, volunteers who were shown a poster with neutral sentences ate both the sweets in equal amounts.

"The findings of this study come at a time when our country is slowly recovering from the onslaught of negative presidential campaign ads chalked with topics such as the weak economy, gun violence, war, deep political divides, just to name a few problem areas. Now that we know this sort of messaging causes people to seek out more calories out of a survival instinct, it would be wise for those looking to kick off a healthier new year to tune out news for a while," Laran was quoted as saying in The Telegraph.