Wii Fit “Fat” Controversy

Watchdog Group Doesn’t Want Children Playing

There is something psychological about being teased and taunted about your weight at a young age.  It can have have a long-lasting impact, even so far as to cause serious physical health issues down the road–anorexia and bulimia come to mind.

So does Wii Fit further these self-image problems by referring to younger users as “fat?”

The game uses Body Mass Index calculations, a combination of what you weigh and how tall you are, in determining how fit a user is.  However, as children grow and mature into adulthood, BMIs become increasingly unreliable to gauge whether a young person is overweight or obese.

Nintendo’s sole reliance on BMI has prompted the UK’s National Obesity Forum to issue a warning to parents.  Says representative Tam 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.

We’ll leave the numerous jokes we could make about the “Fry” name for now, and instead give you Nintendo’s tactful response, which includes an apology for anyone offended:

Nintendo would like to apologize to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player’s current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit.

Wii Fit is still capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between two and 20 but the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development.

This spat seems to only be impacting Britain, where a father complained after the game referred to her 10-year-old as being “fat.”