Healthy Weight Loss (© Photographer: Sandra Gligorijevic | Agency: Dreamstime.com)

Being 25 pounds overweight will not increase your risk of dying from heart disease or cancer according to a recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

An Associated Press report posted by Yahoo! News quotes the study's lead author, Katherine Flegal of the CDC as saying, "Excess weight does not uniformly increase the risk of mortality from any and every cause, but only from certain causes."

Researchers were surprised to find that having a little extra weight actually seemed to help people survive some illnesses. That finding is disputed by many health experts, but the study’s results were embraced by those who believe it possible to be fat and fit.

Carrying 39 extra pounds does increase the risk of dying from diabetes and kidney disease. Obesity “raised the risk of death from heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease, and several cancers previously linked with excess weight, including breast, colon and pancreatic cancer,” according to the AP report.

If you’d like to read the AP report as it appeared on Yahoo! News go to: Extra weight won't raise death risk

If you’d like to purchase the entire CDC study go to: Journal of the American Medical Association