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Researchers found people with obesity who frequently exercised had changes in their belly fat that reduced the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Belly fat tends to get a bad rap, but new research shows that one kind of belly fat can be healthier than others — provided you’re willing to get moving.

“Fat is really misunderstood,” said Jeffrey Horowitz, a professor of exercise physiology in the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. “The fat we have, especially that which is stored under our skin, is a really important place to store our energy.”

In a new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Metabolism, Horowitz and his team found that people with obesity who get regular aerobic exercise have healthier belly fat tissue — specifically, that subcutaneous fat stored just beneath the skin — than nonexercisers with obesity.