should parents lose custody of super obese kids?

That's unfair. Just because your kids are fat doesn't mean that you should lose custody of them.
My mom never regulated what we ate as kids ( but still made sure we had lots of milk, fruit, veg), but we ate and still do eat alot of junk food. I mean ALOT. My sister and I never got fat as kids, and we ate like 300 lb men, and even now my highest weight was still considered healthy and my sister was considered like 5lbs overweight. My brother also never gained weight, and ate junk.
Anyway, my point is that sure junk food is unhealthy, but if your going to take away obese kids for it, what are you going to do with the skinny sticks that can eat whatever they want and not get fat.

NO. simply put. Educate them, but don't take the kids away from the parents. Why punish the kids, not to mention, who is going to pick up the tab for this? We can't afford anything in this country as it is, you want to add another crazy thing into the mix? Something else to eat up taxes. Something else to take money away from public schools. Yeah, that makes sense... The moron that came up with this one probably doesn't have kids and has never lived life outside of a book. Sure the parent needs a good kick in the *kitten* if the kid is that overweight, but don't put that burden on me to pay for it. I have enough problems on my own.

You're probably ALREADY paying for that kid. Unfortunately a lot of these obese children are welfare babies and mom and dad use their food stamp money to buy nothing but CRAP. I think the food stamp system should be like WIC - only certain foods are allowed and only for a certain amount of time. This would also help with the national healthcare issue - if you don't have as many people sick because they're not obese, diabetic, or whatever, we wouldn't have to worry about trying to figure out a way to pay for their medical bills, too. We have too many government assistance programs as it is - taking these children out of their homes would just add to that problem. Education is key. Children and parents alike need to be taught about sustaining a healthy lifestyle. If you're an adult and you can't take care of yourself, you shouldn't be having children. Unfortunately, a good portion of the US is too stupid to realize that.

You kinda took the words right outta my mouth, but I have been blasted so bad for saying this in the past. If it were more regulated to only allow certain items, I think it would help A LOT. But then people argued (on the debate board I'm on), that the government shouldn't be paying for high priced "health" foods. It's a double edged sword to get into it, really...

I don't think the government should be paying for food at all. You don't work - you don't eat. I personally LOATHE the welfare system - I've seen it abused far too many times. Want to take care of national debt? Start eliminating government assistance programs and make people work for their food like they used to.

I understand that there are legitimate cases of people actually needing help, and I'm perfectly fine with those people receiving help - it's the ones that abuse the system that I can't stand. If you were able to weed out all the abusers, maybe then the people that actually NEED help could get it.

Take away a child from an otherwise loving home because the kid is obese? No, not in my opinion. Especially as the previous poster said she was fed lots of junk food and stayed thin. Should they have been removed from their home? No? Simply because her family seems to have a high metabolism and can eat stuff and stay thin.

Just to set the record straight, if everyone had actually read the article, the children they are referring to are not "fat", they are morbidly obese and their lives are in danger because they are so overweight. The article states that these children are at risk of dying by the age of 30! There is NO excuse for that! It has nothing to do with food companies or WIC! How expensive is a can of beans and a bag of rice? A jar of peanut butter and a loaf of wheat bread? An apple and a gallon of milk? The issue is LAZINESS. It's easier to go through the McDonald's drive-thru than prepare a balanced home cooked meal. These habits are passed down from parent to child and the children continue to eat that way once they are capable of making their own choices. And I don't believe it is right to automatically force the parents to give up custody, but I do believe that the government needs to interfere by forcing the parents as well as the children (depending on their age) to attend nutrition & wellness classes as well as working with a social worker so they can understand how to live a healthy life style. Yes, education is the answer but these families will not learn if no one makes them. Parents need to be aware of their childrens' individual needs; what is okay for one child may not be for another, and that is where the child abuse comes in. It is not right to expose children to environments that are unhealthy and unsafe, and if parents are allowing their children to eat themselves to death, that is abuse.

Most people dont read the articles, just the topics.

Education is the most important thing in my opinion....set a time line, setup some counseling.

If after like 6 months the parents are still feeding them teh same thing...that's negligence, and it's child abuse. Take the child away, and control the environment...yes it sucks for a few years for the kid...but they'll thank them later I bet because they'll be ALIVE to thank them.