Expert Says Children Should Be Banned From Wii Fit (kotaku.com)

[7th lutz]

http://kotaku.com/5009320/expert-say...d-from-wii-fit

Remember the little girl that Wii Fit called fat? Sure you do! Now, at least one expert is calling Nintendo out on using BMI to judge whether younger players are overweight or not. Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum is even calling for kiddos to be banned from Wii Fit. According to Fry:

I'm absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat... 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.

[Oobgarm]

If anyone is going to use this as an accurate BMI indicator, they should be hit over the head with their own shoe.

[UK Collector]

BMI is essentially useless. Yes, Wii Fit can measure it accurately because it is merely a weight/height ratio, but it is flawed. For a example, a bodybuilder with large amounts of muscle and almost no fat can be seen to be overweight on a BMI. It is such a simplistic tool that it shouldn't really be used at all.

[exit]

The fact that someone may actually take a video game fitness machine seriously is sad and I doubt that most kids will even want to play Wii Fit, I'm sure they'd much rather be playing Mario.

[LucidDefender]

Originally Posted by UK Collector

BMI is essentially useless. Yes, Wii Fit can measure it accurately because it is merely a weight/height ratio, but it is flawed. For a example, a bodybuilder with large amounts of muscle and almost no fat can be seen to be overweight on a BMI. It is such a simplistic tool that it shouldn't really be used at all.

BMI is VERY useful. Most people are sedentary nowadays, and BMI is an effective tool for most people out there. There are some people, like you mentioned, like bodybuilders, that don't fit into the BMI system; however, they're the minority.

People like to harp on BMI because it says they're fat. and of course. no one wants to hear that.

[secretvampire]

People like to harp on BMI because it says they're fat. and of course. no one wants to hear that.

Hah, no kidding. Maybe it's a good thing the machine will tell them what noone else has the bravery to.

[diskoboy]

People that try and tell you what is and is not good for you, shouldn't be allowed to live.

[FABombjoy]

Originally Posted by diskoboy

People that try and tell you what is and is not good for you, shouldn't be allowed to live.

Would you like to start with the doctors or the nutritionists?

Myself, I'll choose the naturopaths. Damn hippy docs!

[bb_hood]

Fat kids need to be told that they are fat and then whipped into shape.

[Ponyone]

Originally Posted by exit

The fact that someone may actually take a video game fitness machine seriously is sad and I doubt that most kids will even want to play Wii Fit, I'm sure they'd much rather be playing Mario.

Or eating fast food.

[mailman187666]

I'm basically going to be using wii fit for a reason to get off my ass and try and stay in shape and to see how my weight changes over time while I'm use the thing. I'm going to treat it as seriously as I do hiking, boating, or whatever else I do for excercise, I'm going to treat it as fun. It can say you are fat on the machine but obviously if you are a bodybuilder or have a lot of muscle mass, you can tell by looking in the damn mirror that the majority of your weight isn't fat. Basically, when it comes down to it, its to help get rid of our bitch tits lol

[Gentlegamer]

Does the balance board have a speaker on it like the Wiimote?

*Gentlegamer steps on balance board*

"One user at a time, please!"

[Lady Jaye]

I personally couldn't care less about Wii Fit. DDR interests me more as videogame-meets-exercise game...

[MegaDrive20XX]

And now for some math for the hell of it...

The child in question related to this article is 6 stones in weight, what is her real weight in US Metric?

Answer: the girl is 112 lbs (6 stones= 38.10 kg= roughly 112lbs. in US Metric)

Hey, whatcha get for number 23 on the test? God I hate Math...

[Lady Jaye]

So what? Even if she were a fat kid, if she's active, then she's healthy. I was a relatively fat kid but I was also quite active. And I was into playing videogames. Being fat does not automatically equal being unhealthy.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Originally Posted by Lady Jaye

So what? Even if she were a fat kid, if she's active, then she's healthy. I was a relatively fat kid but I was also quite active. And I was into playing videogames. Being fat does not automatically equal being unhealthy.

I'm saying the kid is NOT fat. The Wii fit made an error is what I was pointing out.

[Rob2600]

Originally Posted by Lady Jaye

Being fat does not automatically equal being unhealthy.

How so?

[DKTheArcadeRat]

Nah. but 9 times outta ten.... It does.

[unwinddesign]

Originally Posted by diskoboy

People that try and tell you what is and is not good for you, shouldn't be allowed to live.

...right.

[incubus421]

I believe this topic could be heading towards dark places soon...

I think Wii Fit will be great, I want to believe that it will motivate so many people out there and really help out todays society in a lot of ways. For once, I think nintendos heart might actually be in the right place...haha

[Rob2600]

Originally Posted by incubus421

I think Wii Fit will be great

I agree. I think it will be a great supplement to my gym routine.

[Poofta!]

listen, fat kids are fat. they know this. get off the couch, eat better and be healthy. i hope all these round lil bastards get wii fit, i think its a great idea.

[heybtbm]

Originally Posted by bb_hood

Fat kids need to be told that they are fat and then whipped into shape.

Agreed, except I think the parents should be "told" as well. Get those fatties moving!

[heybtbm]

Originally Posted by Rob2600

I agree. I think it will be a great supplement to my gym routine.

"Gym routine"...indeed. You've never been to Fark.com have you?

[ProgrammingAce]

BMI was designed to study a group of people, not a single person. Obviously there will be outliers in a group, so it averages out so you can study the obesity of a group of people.