Wii Fit controversy

Swift19 · #1 (**permalink**) 05-24-2008, 03:03 PM

A 10-year-old girl was distraught after being labeled "Fat" by Wii Fit. Nintendo has apologized and admitted that the game is not very accurate for measuring children.

Posted by James Brightman on Friday, May 16, 2008
Nintendo Apologizes for Wii Fit Calling Little Girl 'Fat'

An innocent Nintendo game about balance and fitness is probably the last product that would ever come to mind when you think about video game controversy, but Nintendo's popular Wii Fit (which went on sale in Europe in late April and is launching in the U.S. on May 19) has prompted some experts to question Nintendo's methods for measuring body weight and fitness.

A report in the U.K. paper Daily Mail highlighted an incident in which a 10-year-old girl was told by the Wii Fit software that she's "fat." The girl was very upset to be told that and the parents were none too pleased.

"She is a perfectly healthy, 4ft 9in tall 10-year-old who swims, dances and weighs only six stone," said the father. "She is solidly built but not fat. She was devastated to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her she isn't. I know it is just a game but we already have to worry about young girls starving themselves to look like magazine models and now we have a game that tells them they're fat. This to me is very worrying."

It's apparently worrying to Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum as well. In Wii Fit after a player enters his/her height, the software uses BMI to measure body fat based on an adult's height and weight. Fry, however, thinks the measurement is misleading and he'd like to see children banned from playing the game.

"I'm absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat," he said. "BMI is far from perfect but with children it simply should not be used. A child's BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit. I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents."

For its part, Nintendo acknowledged that it's not the most accurate tool for children to measure body fat and the company apologized. "Nintendo would like to apologize to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit," a company rep said. "Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between two and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development."

Video Game News, Video Game Coverage, Video Game Updates, PC Game News, PC Game Coverage - GameDaily

thoughts? i don't think nintendo was prepared for this

**Kelley** · 05-24-2008, 07:13 PM

Oh how I lol'd.
Distraught? Please people come up with the silliest things nowadays. She should have just laughed it off. She's frigging ten. She hasn't lost her baby fat yet. Good lord people are dumb.
Poor Nintendo. I'm on their side.

Ol' Patty · 05-24-2008, 07:31 PM

Heh, wow... I hope they change something before the U.S. release... "Oh noes, I spilleds teh hot coffees on meh! Imma sue McDonald's!" "Oh noes, McDonald's mades meh fat! Imma sue'em!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelley

Oh how I lol'd.
Distraught? Please people come up with the silliest things nowadays. She should have just laughed it off. She's frigging ten. She hasn't lost her baby fat yet. Good lord people are dumb.
Poor Nintendo. I'm on their side.

It would be nice if humans were collectively capable of such a thing, wouldn't it? Let's practice. All together now...

**Ristaron** · 05-26-2008, 07:18 PM

I don't know how the fuck that would even happen. A ten year old who is 4'9 and weighs 84 lbs (six stone) has a BMI of 18.2, which according to any real BMI calculator is on the very low range of normal (close to underweight). Obviously this girl's self-esteem was already incorrigibly low, most likely due to our society's obsession with being a bean pole in designer jeans.

While I feel sorry for the obviously irreparable psychological damage this young girl obviously has suffered (augmented by this bullshit), I am also disgusted that she would so easily succumb to peer pressure. At ten years old, I regularly told people to fuck off when they were insistent or intolerant. Keeping other people happy isn't high on my list of priorities.

**Opunaya** · 05-27-2008, 05:36 AM

You better want to keep me happy though.

I almost feel sorry for her, but then again, I don't, because, if she really is fat and out-of-shape, she was playing the game that would improve herself, now wasn't she?

**Brother of Yeshua** · 05-27-2008, 12:57 PM

The issues here is the societal indoctrination. Besides, I'm fully grown, and according to the BMI chart, I'm obese (I'm not) because I'm 5'9" and weigh 170.

Meanwhile when I lay on the ground my ribs stick out. Tell me how that one works.

It's all bullshit. Like the parents themselves said, with magazines, tv, movies, etc etc that indoctrinate people with what is supposedly attractive (apparently looking like a coked out whore is attractive these days). Now you have a cutsy video game calling people fat. I doubt it's malicious on Nintendo's part, but also, if this girl has this many body image issues, the parents should be dealing with it in other ways than bitching at Nintendo.

**Opunaya** · 05-27-2008, 01:05 PM

I'm 5'7'' and about 215 pounds...but alot of that is muscle...I hope. lol

w8_4_the_moonrise · 05-28-2008, 02:24 PM

... I'm so confused...

Are there many different kinds of BMI charts 'cause I just calculated all of the posted Height/weights and with the exception of Rist's I got completely different results.

And according to the BMI I calculated for the little girl in the OP she is way underweight.

Anyway I got Wii Fit a few days ago and I like it a lot.

Swift19 · 05-28-2008, 02:39 PM

the thing is, Nintendo is marketing "Wii-fit" as a serious exercise tool when clearly it isn't. they're saying you should take it seriously when again you shouldn't. if you want a real good exercise routine you go to a gym or something. they'll give you better and more accurate answers.

**Ristaron** · 05-28-2008, 05:34 PM

According to this I have a BMI of 21, putting me in the "healthy" range. Now, the BMI chart itself is widely considered obsolete because it doesn't factor in muscle mass vs. fat. Muscle weighs more than fat, but many athletes are lean as well as muscular so that they have a BMI below 20. Normally this would indicate being underweight, but it isn't so for athletes.

For most people, the chart results are read as such:
<20: Underweight.
20-22: Ideal range. Results in lowest incidence of serious illness. Supposedly the most attractive.
23-25: Still acceptable.
26-30: Your physique will start to show signs of excess baggage.
30+: Unhealthy. Risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain cancers.

I used to have a BMI of 18-19, back when I was in judo. The chart would call that underweight, I call it healthy. I used to have a 6-pack, now I have a 34" waist.

Gah, I need to get my leg better so that I can get back into exercising.

But, back to the point: basing your image of yourself off a video game is ridiculous. This girl needs an infusion in self-esteem.