Despite the critically applauded fitness benefits associated with the Nintendo Wii’s newly released Wii Fit interactive exercise experience, the innovative health promotion program and its accompanying motion-sensitive balance board are being accused of instigating potential eating disorders in children.
Nintendo\'s Wii Fit hit by critics following BMI complaint. Image: Zone41/Flickr.
Specifically, the parents of 11-year-old Lincolnshire girl Tabea Scott-King were shocked to learn that their fit and active daughter planned on dropping weight after Wii Fit calculated her body mass index (BMI) and advised her that she was getting a little fat around the middle.
“I put in my date of birth and my height it calculated my BMI and it said that I was overweight, so I went home and I told my mum,” said young Tabea in a BBC report.
Tabea’s mother, Lisa Scott-King, commented that: “it’s things like this that would lead to eating disorders.” She also said that Wii Fit’s makers should issue a clear age restriction outlining exactly who should be using its health and fitness experience.
Obviously concerned as a mother, Scott-King went on to insist her daughter, who dances and swims every week, weighs 44kgs and measures 1.5m in height and certainly does not need to lose weight, offering that Tabea is “slim and tall and she’s got a lot of growing left to do.”
That parental view is supported by the National Institute of Health’s BMI calculator, which returned a result of 19.5, placing Tabea at the decidedly lower end of the ‘normal’ category for her current weight and height -- normal ranges from 18.5 to 24.9.
And it’s not just concerned parents looking to take Nintendo to task for Wii Fit, with obesity experts warning that the program could lead to a spate of anorexia in children.
Tam Fry, honorary chairman of the Child Growth Foundation and member of the National Obesity Forum, said he was “aghast” that Wii Fit is telling children they are fat. According to Mr. Fry, children should not be allowed to participate in the health and fitness game due to its inaccurate and misleading BMI reading.
“BMI is far from perfect but with children it simply should not be used,” he advised. “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.”
Responding to the complaint, videogame giant Nintendo apologised “to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player’s current BMI status.” The company also conceded that the Wii Fit’s BMI calculations are based on adult input and therefore might not be wholly accurate for all children moving through varying stages of physical development.
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