They say good or "brown" fat is stored mostly around the neck and collarbone.
Bad fat, which is white or yellow, tends to concentrate around the waistline.
Scientists once thought the brown fat, which helps to keep infants warm, disappeared by adulthood.
But three new studies published in the /*New England Journal of Medicine*/ suggest some of it remains in adults and could potentially help people shed pounds.
According to Dr. Francesco Celi, a researcher at the /*National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases*/, the studies show brown fat burns large amounts of energy.
"So, it could be used as a target for a pill that would somehow rev up the fat," he said.
"I don't want to use the word 'exercise-in-a-pill,' but it's doing something [that is] getting rid of calories," commented Dr. Louis Aronne, a weight control expert at the /*Weill Cornell Medical Center*/ in New York.
Researchers hope their findings will renew interest in brown fat among drug makers to someday come up with a safe weight-loss medication.
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