Dozing off to late-night TV or sleeping with the lights on could make you pack on the pounds, according to a new study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal.

The study says women who sleep with the TV or any other bright light on gained about 11 pounds over five years.

"The hormone systems get disrupted because you're not going into that deep sleep," says Dr. John Zaso, of East Meadow.

He adds that when the brain is tired, it can interpret that as hunger.

Olga Skouloudis, a mother of two from Syosset, says it's hard to turn off the TV at night because it's the only time she has to watch her shows.

Just because the study was done only on women, Zazo says there's no reason to believe it wouldn't affect men and women equally.