Wii Fit is unfit: A parental controversy
When a 10 year-old girl from the South-East of Britain stepped on the scale of Nintendo’s new game Wii Fit, she expected to get the blood pumping with some fun, casual exercising.
Instead, the game’s software told her she was fat. Understandably, her father wasn’t happy.
“She is a perfectly healthy, 4ft 9in tall 10-year-old who swims, dances and weighs only six stone (84 lbs). 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.”
Obesity experts in the U.K. are working equally hard taking Nintendo to task for failing to warn parents that Wii Fit isn’t appropriate for younger kids. At the center of the debate is the game’s use of the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a means of judging the health of its players. After standing on the game’s innovative Balance Board peripheral and entering basic information like height and weight, the game doles out an overall BMI number as well as a label, such as “underweight,” “ideal,” or in some cases, “fat.” While the somewhat callous system is reasonably accurate in determining the BMI of adults, a child’s BMI can literally change from day to day. Experts have deemed its use in Wii Fit misleading.
“I’m absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat,” said Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum. “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.”
Nintendo apologized for the terminology used to describe players, but stopped short of actually adding a warning to the game.
“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,” the company said through a spokesman.
Nintendo’s exergame is already a bona fide international hit, selling out quickly in both Japan and Europe. The game releases in North America on May 19.
By Ben Silverman
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The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore, Maryland, believes that BMI is not a true reflection of an individual’s health and are concerned that the BMI aspect of the Wii Fit program could have a negative impact on peoples’ perception – both young and old – of their body image. To learn more about BMI and our thoughts on the topic, visit our CED Blog by Googling ‘The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, Blog’ and check out the entry entitled ‘BMI Don’t You Judge Mii, Wii
The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore, Maryland, believes that BMI is not a true reflection of an individual’s health and are concerned that the BMI aspect of the Wii Fit program could have a negative impact on peoples’ perception – both young and old – of their body image. To learn more about BMI and our thoughts on the topic, visit our CED Blog by Googling ‘The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, Blog’ and check out the entry entitled ‘Don’t You Judge Mii, Wii.’ http://eatingdisorder.org/blog/2008/06/24/
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