
So the original article is coming from The Sun (we know, we know) who turn some garbage about an 11 year old girl into a full-on assault at the game.
Tabea Scott-King weighs 6st 13lb and is only 5ft high - a perfectly rationable weight in relation to her height. Wii Fit uses BMI to measure obesity which works well in the main part but has some flaws in it's system. For example, a 20st body builder would be considered overweight by the game.
Here at NintendoLife.com we are calling for people to use their eyes aswell as their copies of the Wii Fit game. If the game says you're "obese" and you look down at yourself and can see your feet we reckon you might not be quite as obese as the game thinks. Take a look in the mirror.
Some personal trainer dude that we won't acknowledge with a name reckons that people are unable to decide for themselves if they really are fat and reckons children should be banned from playing the game:
"I'm absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat."
We wonder what Mr. Personal-Trainer-Dude thinks the school bullies say to the fat kids in their year: "Oh she's portly/rotund".
To wrap up this irritating controversy Nintendo have issued a statement:
"Nintendo would like to apologise 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," responded Nintendo in an official statement.
"As stated in the Wii Fit manual, BMI is essentially a measure of body fat, based on an adult height and weight. Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between 2 and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development.
"People with more muscle mass than normal will also have a higher BMI rating due to the heavy weight of muscle tissue, so the resulting figures should be used for reference purposes only," added the statement.
Nintendo went on to say that it was the "best generic" scale for measuring progress in its game, as the BMI system is "widely used within the medical and fitness professions".
Blergh.
[source techdigest.tv]
Comments 4
Don't blame the game, BMI is not a perfect system. It does work though, when you use it with a little intelligence. Just like you said, they should use their eyes.
Yeah, Nintendo didn't "invent" the BMI system, it clearly states that its not accurate for everyone! Seesh!
nobody should ever be informed that they may have a weight issue. in fact all personal trainers should tell people that are obese, err, heavy, woops, um... weight challenged that they are as thin as they should be. this obviously would be more healthy to tell someone. and contribute to them having a healthier and more enjoyable long life. Pleeeaassaseee!!!!!!!! If it sting's do something.
Has anyone looked at this girls purported height and weight? She should have a BMI of 19. There is no way that the Wii Fit would class that as overweight. All the usual stuff has been trundled out, quotes from experts, BMI doesn't distinguish fat and muscle, etc. etc. How about user error? My niece insisted her BMI was 27 which is hilarious -- turned out to be her Wii Fit age whilst her BMI was 17. I have been following this story all round the net and commenting on it wherever I can. It's amazing that nobody has asked the girl to demonstrate the wii fit misbehaving in this way.
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