Parents outraged after Wii Fit labels healthy kis as over weight

There is a possibility that Wii fit is designed for "older" crown, or even "asian" crowd. NOT BEING RACIST HERE.

Usually kids dont get that upset when people call them "overweight". Also, depending on the age, they may not even understand the term "overweight". It seems like this kid is very sensitive about his/her weight. Chances are that this kid is in fact overweight. His/her parents may be in denial. I will love to see a picture of this kid, before making a final judgement.

http://wiifitchat.blogspot.com/2008/05/parental-outrage-as-wii-fit-labels.html

Kenshiro said:

There is a possibility that Wii fit is designed for "older" crown, or even "asian" crowd. NOT BEING RACIST HERE.

Usually kids dont get that upset when people call them "overweight". Also, depending on the age, they may not even understand the term "overweight". It seems like this kid is very sensitive about his/her weight. Chances are that this kid is in fact overweight. His/her parents may be in denial.

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His/her parents may be STUPID... and wealthy. Always a lethal combination.

Parents like that are stupid.. They need to lay down the law and keep their kids from blowing up like balloons. Its not the kids fault, its the parents..

Its not like there are not charts that tell you your overweight, and I bet the game takes your height and weight and determines if you are or not.. Im also willing to bet that the kids doctor has told the parents that the child is overweight as well..

Meh, if the kid is overweight, then the kid is frakken overweight!

Its the parents jobs to raise healthy kids. sure, there can be genetic problems, but that's up to the doctors.

Its like people getting mad at Simon Cowell, because he actually tells a person that they suck at singing.

Maybe if people quit living in some kind of fairy land made of peaches, where everything is perfect just the way it is, and no one should point out your flaws, no matter how detrimental they can be to your health, then we wouldn't see stupid news stories like this.

Its a pretty sad state of affairs, when someone has to get this kind of information from a VIDEO GAME, then gets all heart-broken over it because they didn't hear it anywhere else.

Though, for all we know...the kid could be perfectly fine. plus, not sure how the game factors in age as well. kids go through growth spurts. they could have a few extra pounds for a bit of time, then go through a growth spurt and gain a few inches on their height, and end up shedding some of the body fat.

The whole weight thing that the balance board does is crap anyways. If I stood on it it would list me as overweight (which is true) but you could take somebody who is big and muscular and get them to stand on it and it would rate them as overweight, too. BMI calculators and stuff are absolute crap.

That reminds me when it first debuted, Reggie stood on it and it told the entire audience that he was overweight. Kinda funny, as he looks more stocky than overweight, y'know? Just built.

Oni said:

The whole weight thing that the balance board does is crap anyways. If I stood on it it would list me as overweight (which is true) but you could take somebody who is big and muscular and get them to stand on it and it would rate them as overweight, too. BMI calculators and stuff are absolute crap.

That reminds me when it first debuted, Reggie stood on it and it told the entire audience that he was overweight. Kinda funny, as he looks more stocky than overweight, y'know? Just built.

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By the way, the BMI Indes from the American Heart Association, is not accurate. The reason is because they do not account for fat %. That index punishes people with muscles. I totally agree with you.

However, most parents should acknowledge maybe their children is/are overweight and fat. Thats why for that article, I will like to see a pic of the kid before making any judgement. Once again, my question is, how old is the kid, and how come the kid is so sentitive about his/her weight? If a person is sensitive about a particulare issue, chances are the he/she may have a problem with that issue.

I agree that the board probably doesn't give you really accurate body mass index readings. Just like the best way to measure your body fat is with one of those little clamps, not a computer.

But I think Nintendo could have done a better job of delivering the information. It probably would have been better for Nintendo just to give you % values and then let you take that information yourself. They are going to be in a lot of trouble if girls and boys start blaming eating disorders on this. The wii told me I was fat so I became anorexic / bulemic...not cool.

I agree that it's the parents fault if a child is very overweight, but like it was said before, there are many many many degrees of 'overweight'.

I want to try it now to see if it labels me as 'overweight'.

Does anyone know between the caliper method vs. those things you just hold in your hands for a few seconds which is more accurate? I know submersion is the best method but honestly who does that. /OT

Oni said:

The whole weight thing that the balance board does is crap anyways. If I stood on it it would list me as overweight (which is true) but you could take somebody who is big and muscular and get them to stand on it and it would rate them as overweight, too. BMI calculators and stuff are absolute crap.

That reminds me when it first debuted, Reggie stood on it and it told the entire audience that he was overweight. Kinda funny, as he looks more stocky than overweight, y'know? Just built.

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I have a very low body fat percentage (around 5%) and am fairly muscular, so BMI doesn't work for me.

BMI is a general equation, and there are exceptions, but you can not seriously tell me that the majority of high-BMI Americans have a high BMI because they are muscular? Most are fat, simple as that. Anyone who is muscular enough for this to matter knows the limitation of the equation anyway. It's common sense.

You don't throw out the whole thing because of a few limitations. Yes BFP is a much better gauge, but if you care that much and there isn't a general rule for everyone. Doctors and health-care professionals are well aware that it doesn't fit all and adjusts accordingly.