A recent study of mice found that when they were in social groups they were able to convert energy-storing white fat, to energy-burning brown fat.

Fat can come in two types: energy-storing white fat, and energy-burning brown fat.

While we all have white fat tissue, the brown fat needed for weight loss is difficult to make. It is mostly found in babies, or in adults who have been exposed to extreme cold, where it is burned to keep them warm.

But the US team, led by Professor Matthew During, have found that relatively small changes in the physical and social living environment of mice can alter vast amounts of white fat to brown.