Fat kids not fat because of junk food?

While tooling through Yahoo! Health News this morning, where I was overjoyed to notice that "weight loss health" and "sexual health" topped the org chart (good to know where the priorities are: losing weight and getting laid)...I found this article, outlining a study recently undertaken by researchers at Iowa State University. Although there was plenty of the usual rhetoric, there were some interesting conclusions that seemed out of step in that context. For example:

Iowa State University researchers say their analysis shows that a lack of food isn't necessarily to blame

and

the study shows that if the government tries to expand food assistance programs to help children, officials can move forward without worrying about an increase in overweight kids living in poverty.

and

there should be a closer look at the family and how factors such as stress affect a child's weight.

I mean, this is certainly not perfect....there's still plenty of bullshit language connecting "overeating and obesity," but I think parts of this (or at least the way it's being spun) are uncoupling that link. If we can get to a place of recognizing that fatness exists generally independent of diet, that's a huge step forward. (Although, I will say it's just disgusting to me that anyone would even consider not engaging in food assistance programs because it might make poor kids fat. Better they should starve, apparently.)

There was also this bit...

children may have eaten well when money was available, but would skip meals when cash was short, a cycle that could slow their metabolism and cause them to gain weight.

...that sounds suspiciously like it's saying dieting makes people fat.

Maybe there's hope. For the kids, and the rest of us, too.