ATLANTA (WAOK) - Getting a little extra shut-eye may be the best weapon in the battle of the bulge.

A study in the journal “Sleep” suggests that getting more than nine hours of sleep a night can suppress genetic influences that lead to weight gain.

Researchers analyzed more than one-thousand pairs of identical twins, with one twin sleeping more than nine hours a night and the other sleeping less than seven.

They found genetic influences accounted for as much as 70-percent of body weight differences in those who got less than seven hours of sleep per night.