It amazes me how people attack a product when it tells them the truth, The truth hurts sometimes and when Nintendo’s Wii Fit tells a 10 year old that she is overweight, its ok, but the Daily Mail are reporting that its not and even go as far to reword what the Wii Fit really said. The Wii Fit does not use words like “Fat” as reported by the Daily Mail, in fact it would say “overweight” and if that’s the case then we have to exercise more and keep an eye on what we eat.
That’s why the U.S. and UK have many children that are overweight, because we do not like facing up to what is happening to our children and blame a product, when all its trying to-do is help us have a healthier lifestyle and some fun at the same time. My daughter tried the Wii Fit and when it said she was overweight, she run to her room crying. I asked her to come down, and after explaining that she looks good but needs to work out a little and not eat chocolate everyday…my 9-year-old daughter understood and now uses the Wii Fit everyday. This new lifestyle for her of having fun, keeping fit and watching what she eats will carry on into adulthood.
The Nintendo Wii Fit is for children and adults and if so called “Obesity experts” get their way by making parents think “it is not suitable for their offspring”, we could have a much more overweight nation. Just because a child is told she is overweight, does not mean it’s a bad thing, it’s how the parent’s respond to this and what help they give their children. If a child is overweight, we need to help our children live a better lifestyle and not just say, “It could damage children’s body image”.
The fact is the Nintendo Wii fit is telling children and adults all over the UK, U.S. and the rest of world that they are overweight. The reason it is selling out everywhere is because many homes are now keeping fit indoors, just like we have for years with home gyms, but the Wii Fit does a lot more to help keep us all in trim and learn about our balance. Well-done Nintendo.
16 responses so far ↓
1 No Wheels // May 16, 2008 at 4:22 pm
The product is not telling the truth, that’s the point of the story.. like the man from Nintendo says.
Nintendo confessed that the Wii Fit BMI calculation “may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development”
Its not a product attack - it’s just pointing out how Wii Fit should be used properly for best results.
2 A1 // May 16, 2008 at 9:35 pm
no wheels: thats what the warnings for. but people are too dumb to understand it.
3 Jim // May 16, 2008 at 11:54 pm
If you do the math from the actual height and weight of the 10 year old girl, you’ll see that she really is overweight! Many have pointed this out in other blogs.
The article’s right. Get with the program, get fit and have a better self image.
4 slimjim // May 17, 2008 at 11:54 am
You missing the point, BMI doesnt tell the whole story. At 18st and 5′10″ a BMI result would tell me that I am overweight. What it doesnt take into consideration is muscle mass and fat percentages, I may be 18st but my fat percentage is under 10%! The normal % is around 12 - 15% for a male in my age group.
5 Chris // May 18, 2008 at 11:44 am
It is OK to call a kid FAT if they are FAT they ARE FAT, TOUGH LUCK, try slimming or excercising you OBESE KIDS.
If you have a bad self image try excercise , it produces endorphines the happy reward drug the brain produces when you do something funny, good and other stuff. Its a great feeling and they make you (feel like)look fantastic.
6 No Wheels // May 18, 2008 at 10:05 pm
@Jim - are you using Wii Fit to do the math? Are you one of Nintendo’s stooges like Mikey DeLorenzo? Faggot. Get real will you, her BMI (depending on the story you get the stats from) is somewhere between 18 and 20. On the BMI Child Tables for a 10 (or 11) year old - it’s fine.
So YES - It is ok to call a fat kid fat! - but in this case the Wii Fit (and Jim) got the math WRONG!
Run the numbers, she’s not overweight, obese or at risk of being overweight. Wii Fit got it wrong. Just accept it.
Anyone heard of the fable “The Emperors New Clothes” - look it up.
7 Jim // May 18, 2008 at 10:24 pm
@No Wheels:)
I’m sorry your wheels fell off. You seem to have taken this VERY personally:) If you’re only good for name calling then get a life. I think the consensus of those really doing the math is that she’s not fat but she’s definitely overweight. Just because parents are used to seeing their kids a little ‘chunky’ doesn’t make it OK. They still need to get off the couch and get in shape.
By the way, I was not using Wii Fit to do the math, I was using her published height and weight.
I hope you find your wheels:)
8 slimjim // May 19, 2008 at 11:27 am
nowheels;
You seem to have missed the point i was making, but then from the comments you make such as faggot I guess that shouldnt suprise me!
Let me go slow as to not confuse you.
1) BMI is only a reading of your Body Mass Index, It doesnt take into consideration muscle mass and body fat percentage.
2) Muscle is denser than fat.
3) The more muscle mass you have the higher your calorie output.
With this all said BMI doesnt tell you how fat or how thin you are, neither does it tell you how much muscle you do or do not have.
Question
Subject A is 11stone, 5′9″ and has a body fat percentage of 10%
Subject B is 11stone, 5′9″ and has a body fat percentage of 16%
Who is the healther, subject A or subject B?
9 No Wheels // May 19, 2008 at 11:33 am
@Jim
Ok, point taken, apologies due. It makes me mad people think that wii fit is definative and follow it with blind faith. It’s good - but it’ll never replace a real person.
Being a qualified personal trainer and gym instructor for the last 15 years, I think I know what I’m talking about.
So, take a look at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/calculator.aspx
6st 13lbs and 5′ (Sun) or 6st and 4′9″ (Dailymail) the BMI comes out under the 85th %-tile. i.e. normal.
10 No Wheels // May 19, 2008 at 12:03 pm
@slimjim
I totally agree with you. Never didn’t
Body fat % is a key measurement we do with EVERY screening assessment. It reinforces my point that computers can’t do a fitness assessments (even if they can do the math right)
A high BMI is an indication that you should get a proper assessment.
11 No Wheels // May 19, 2008 at 12:06 pm
BTW isn’t it ironic I a called someone a faggot and got (rightly) bad karma, but the story is about nintendo’s “insult” of a 10 year old girl which everyone here thinks is fine.
12 No Wheels // May 19, 2008 at 12:15 pm
@Jim
I posted including a link to the CDC, which hasn’t come up. 1st apologies for getting mad at you. I’m work in a gym and have been a personal trainer for 15 years, wii-fit got it wrong. end-of.
2nd - go to the CDC website and plug the numbers in, either 6st and 4′9″ (Dailymail) or 6st 13lbs and 5″ (Sun). None of these are in the 85th+ %-tile.
13 slimjim // May 19, 2008 at 1:40 pm
No worries, so many people think that their weight is the true indication of their fitness level and as you know it is not always the case. Do you work for a club or are your freelance? Do you specialise in any area of fitness? I use to work be in that industry, rehab for cardiac patients, joint replacement etc but mainly specialised in sports specific training. But I got out for that game many a year ago.
14 No Wheels // May 19, 2008 at 9:22 pm
General fitness! It certainly shows you the diversity of people. Also it shows you how unrealistic a lot of peoples goals and expectations are.
You can tell the people that won’t come back after the assement or the ones that will hit the gym for 2 weeks and you’ll never see them again.
If Wii Fit is any different I’ll get out of the industry, head back north and do Wii Fit lessons from home.
Oh, most clubs are franchises and the jobs are contract basis only now - so we’re all freelance now lol
15 Jim // May 20, 2008 at 3:03 pm
@No Wheels
Apology accepted. My Wii Fit was shipped on May 19th from Amazon.com. I’ll have it in a couple of days.
I’m not going to debate the weight vs overweight any more, enough said.
I do think the Wii Fit will get a lot of people off their couch that would otherwise still be couch potatoes.
Even without the Wii Fit, you can still get an amazing cardio workout from just the Wii, by playing the Boxing game. I played it for the first time yesterday, after my son recommended it. I knocked out my first three opponents before I got flattened by the fourth. Each bout it four rounds of hard work. Each opponent is better than the previous one. By the end of the fourth fight, I was ready for the showers:)
I think everyone should just lighten up and enjoy it for what it is…
16 Gwen // May 22, 2008 at 9:02 am
the idea of skinny people is promoted everywhere, but this should be the idea of health…
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