By Jessica Laurence, Aug 16, 2011

f you’re tired of the battle with the scales and the misery of refusing a slice of cake, here’s some encouraging news.

Scientists in Canada have made the controversial suggestion that being overweight could actually be healthier than constant dieting.

The researchers said over a third of the obese men and women they studied were healthy or had only minor health problems.

People who kept dieting and then regaining the weight they lost were found to be less healthy overall than the overweight group.

The team, from York University in Toronto, kept tabs on the health of 6,000 male and female participants for 16 years.

The participants were given physical and medical tests, and the researchers then compared that group’s data with people of normal weights.

The team found that people were heavier did not have more danger of dying than someone who was a normal weight.