Girl Traumatized by Wii Fit

A number of parents have expressed concerns over Nintendo creating bad body images after a concerned family member complained that Wii Fit labeled her relative overweight.

[skynidas]

lol

[sonarus]

I knew this would happen

[znu]

a game called her overweight.
An inanimate object called her fat and she cares why?

Well whos fault is that, if she displays the fitness of fatty then she deserves to be fat. If it called her fat based purely on her personal data without any fitness tests then well, who gives a dam.

[Milky]

stupid fatty.

[Panthers]

It does cause people to feel overweight, just like "inanimate" magazines do. Except this is more personal. Bet people will start blaming this for anorexia.

[gaffyh]

I bet nintendo never expected this lol. I really hope their are big repurcussions for Nintendo for going way too main stream with it's "games", WiiFit is NOT A GAME.

I used to have the greatest respect for Nintendo, not anymore...

[Jeebus]

Wii Sports calls you old, Wii Fit calls you fat, and their next two will call you ugly and stupid...oh wait, they already covered the stupid one (Brain Training).

Nintendo makes a killing off of insulting people.

[jessupj]

All I can say is, This is exactly what you get for buying a bloody wii fit. Those parents deserve everything they get. But the girl can't be held resposible, she doesn't know any better then to not play on the wii fit (if you wanna call it 'playing').

[truncheon]

the Nintendo press conference at E3 last year? LOL.

C'mon, seriously though. You're going to let your self esteem be determined by messages from a hunk of plastic and circuits? Get some f***ing perspective, mang.

[crazy25000]

This will hurt peoples self esteem.

[truncheon]

People shouldn't let their self-esteem be determined by Media, because Media is in teh business of Make-believe and we live in the Real World. If you let magazines, TV, movies, the internets, or Wii Fit control how you feel about yourself, you will NEVER, EVER feel good about yourself. You will be fragile, easily manipulated, defensive, and desperate for attention and the approval of others. True self esteem can only come from that special place within your own self where your pure heart dwells in peace <insert rainbows>. Society puts too much pressure on "body image" for both sexes. But it's not so hard to give "society" the one-finger salute and live your own life on your own terms. "Get Confident, Stupid!" ... or be livestock, its up to You.

[samchris]

^^^
Bravo my man. Could not have said it better myself.

[AbyssGravelord]

truncheon I couldn't have said it any better myself!

+bubbles for you my friend!

[toughNAME]

When things like this happen to teenaged girls I can't help but LMFAO.

But when she's 10 years old...ugh what are we teaching today's kids?

[truncheon]

to blame videogames on! has nothing to do with the overidealized female body image portrayed in TV, movies, and magazines. i'm sure Jack Thompson is sharpening his stick for the videogames cause anorexia fight.

[DomUltra]

Nothin' I hate more then a paper thin chick, ANNA REX anyone?

[Skerj]

I've figured it out, if every game told kids that they were fat and stupid then we wouldn't have to hear from Jack Thompson anymore.

[Timesplitter14]

84 lbs for a 10 year old girl IS fat, I believe. And that "solidly built" says it all. It's her problem.

And if she can't get over it, if she can't face what a video game told her, well I have bad news for her future.

[ianp622]

It's right at the edge of healthy weight, assuming the parents gave the right figures. If she's 10 years old and this is the worst thing someone/something has told her after going through some of grade school, she should consider herself lucky.

[Adriana Lima]

It's only a game.

[SKUD]

LOL!.

[Lavagasm]

Maybe she should tell her fat 10 year old to get off her fat lazy ass and go outside and ride a bike instead of complaining to Nintendo about something she should already know. I find it hard to believe no one has ever called her fat before. Extremely hard to believe.

[General McNugget]

Wii Fit = the future cause of bulimia

[name]

Rofl Video games will make you a bulemic psychopathic schoolshooting sociopath, with some rock hard abs though.

[sumfood4u]

She should try again after mothers day! say round May 21!

[Spinner]

It's out in Europe.

And the girl is from the UK.

So...

[Bathyj]

Maybe they'll make a sequel called Wii Fat that tells chubby kids there just right.

[PLiPhaze]

You're too much man

[Skynetone]

that certainly is'nt Fat {Id call that skinny}

[zerolinkgannon]

Is freakin funny!! =]

[thisguywithhair]

I am kind of confused. Can anyone tell me how many pounds one (1) stone is?

[IanTH]

There are two ways you could find out yourself. You could look it up on google, or actually just do the math. 84/6 = 14 pounds (roughly 6.4 kilograms).

[thisguywithhair]

thanks

[jessupj]

But the math isn't common sense knowledge. You have to already know that in order to actually do the math.

Unlike with the metric system, you can easily work anything out with simple math. But for some reason people still use the outdated imperial system.

[IanTH]

In the article it says "According to the poster, the girl in question is a healthy 4"9 10-year-old who swims, dances and weighs only six stone (84 lbs)". If it's 6 stones and 84 pounds, you divide 84 by 6 and get 14. If we're talking kilograms then you're right, no one would be able to riddle it out on that info alone.

[ECM0NEY]

I think the parents are lieing about her weight. I mean come on they even said "She is solidly built". That sound like a parent calling their kid fat to me.

[Voiceofreason]

I think a better explanation is someone wants a free check and thinks that by doing this they can sue for damages...I also love how they offer no proof when its so easy to record any video game these days.

[Lumbo]

LOL

BMI was known to be inaccurate, especially for children since it has been used. Where have you been all that years?

BMI only takes weight and height into calculation .. now keep in mind that MUSCLE weights MORE than fat, that would result in "grossly overweight fatty" labels for most top sportsmen .. You care to call that "accurate" ?

[Si-Pie]

Yep your right Lumbo that BMI is inaccurate when it comes to people who work out alot with lots of muscle. But then people should only use their common sense when it comes to this and should know that BMI should only be used for overweight people like me :(. I do wonder though is this woman was using the wii fit on a rough soft carpet as i believe this can make the board inaccurate.

[RecSpec]

This reminds me of another game that used to make fun of you, cannot remember anything about it except for that fact.

[TruthbeTold]

Rather than buying Wii fit in order to play the game, and perhaps become a little more active, these people are buying the game in hopes that it will mentally reinforce whatever body image that they already have of themselves? How unhealthy...

"Waaaaaahhh!!! Wii fit called me fat!!! Waaaaaaahhh!!!"

Sigh...

[spooky205]

i smell multiple impending lawsuits when this thing gets released in te states.

[ECM0NEY]

The girl was really 91 pounds and 4'9". So... fat.
The Average american 10 year old girl is 88 pounds in 2002. It was 77 in 1960. She is even fatter then the american average and we are fat lol.

[Lumbo]

How did you arrive at 91 pounds?

the story mentions the weight at 6 stone = 76.2 pound [metric] or 84 pound [british]
That computes to an BMI of ~17 to 18

Even with your made up higher weight it would result in an BMI of 19

Now lets take the BMI classification:

BMI Categories:

* Underweight = <18.5
* Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
* Overweight = 25-29.9
* Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

So if following your argumentation a kid that is in the LOWER area of normal weight, on the brink of being UNDERWEIGHT is fat ?

lets take a more defined BMI calculator for kids:
-------------------
Information Entered
Age: 10 years 0 months Sex: Girl
Birth Date: May 07, 1998 Height: 4 feet 9 inch(es)
Date of Measurement: May 07, 2008 Weight: 84 pounds

Results

Based on the height and weight entered, the BMI is 18.2, placing the BMI-for-age at the 69th percentile for girls aged 10 years 0 months. This child has a healthy weight.
(source: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dn... )

Obviously your argumentation does your name justice ...

[KeiZka]

They are just being tards over there. "Hay, let's get serious about a videogame!" It's either that the kid's parents don't have any clue, the girl's a bloody spoiled little "princess" herself or they just fail at life badly.

I love how idiots are the most vocal ones. In almost every case.

[Nasty]

"We have all laughed and joked about being told that we're fat and need to lose weight but I was gobsmacked when it told her that she is overweight."

Fat family. Fat kids. What a shocker.

[fullmetal1]

she got bigger problems if she cares what a piece of electronics thinks of her.... i swear kids are getting dumber...

[SL1M DADDY]

Fat?

Nope. Ninty needs to get this right before releasing this stuff. Not to say that a 10 year old should be so worried about their weight but Ninty should have done something to prevent this.

http://www.halls.md/ideal-w...

[truncheon]

should tell kids whether or not they're getting into college. Maybe we can get rid of the SAT and GRE for good!

[xhairs]

Don't let 10 year old girls play wii fit.

[ravenguard88]

Self-esteem isn't easily found these days and it's unfortunate that something so small can traumatize anyone. Though, keep in mind, it was a child. I can see how such a thing could effect a child so profoundly because they don't know the difference between a professional doctor opinion or a pop-up ad on the internet.

Nintendo should be careful in the future and instead of writing "You're Fat" or whatever the message is, go for "keep trying!" or something motivated. Are these not "family" games?

Honestly, even if you are an overweight individual, hearing "you're fat" is not going to encourage you in 95% of circumstances. Again, replace it with an encouraging phrase rather than poking fun at a fault they may be trying to overcome. That's seriously kicking someone when they're down and there's generally never a reason for that.

[Owner360-PS3]

haha fat ass

[snakebite36]

that this is even news.

[himdeel]

...if you buy a piece of machinery to get fit, it tells you you're fat and you get upset. Isn't that the whole point of "Wii Fit"...its not called "Wii Yourefinethewayyouare", it's called "Wii (fuggin) Fit" for gods sakes. You don't join a gym so they can tell you that you're too skinny. What the hell did these morons expect?! I bet they are type of people who would buy ice cream and complain when it melts.

You get the Wii Fit I assume if you want to work on some body issues, and these people are falling prey to the "It's on Wii it must be fun phenomena" and getting Wii Fit confused with Mario Kart. Mario Kart is fun and made for fun. Wii Fit is for exercise not fun. Damn shame these people need a game to coddle their fat asses.

[BrotherNick]

LOL @ Wii You'refinethewayyouare XD

[Pain]

Us Kids compared to JP kids are Fat.

Big Boned or w/e they called her is a Nice way of saying she is FAT !!!!!!!

[Boink]

this girl should thank nintendo for telling her the truth when her parents have done nothing but lie to her for years...

[Erethond]

Last time I checked that is overweight. It doesn't mean she isn't healthy, but according to her BMI she is overweight (WHICH IS NOT A BAD THING!).

There is a difference between being overweight and being OBESE.

[The Closing]

The Nintendo is a better parent than the actual parents.

[Muddyalcapones]

LOVE the cat picture for the story...

[DJ114]

why did they show a cat for the picture?

[PSWe60]

I don't like Nintendo, but even I can't blame the product for the faties who don't like the truth

[BigAl109]

I think it was probably a technical error on the Wii. 80 lbs is not fat... especially for a 10 year old girl.

But, they shouldn't be making such a big deal about it. A game knows nothing compared to your scale.

[BigAl109]

Poor girl. It was probably a technical error on the Wii... an 80 lbs girl is not fat...

But, who listens to a game? A scale would know more than your $15 piece of white cardboard.