Wii Fit Says Fat Kids Are Fat, Obesity Expert Enjoys Being An Expert
Having been the "fat kid" for the better part of my childhood, I can understand the scope in which mockery can affect one's psychological well-being. At the center of the only shred of Wii Fit controversy lies a 10 year old British girl of reportedly normal stature who has apparently been traumatically scarred by Wii Fit informing her that she is overweight.
Rushing in to join the crescendo of so called disgust at a video game (as opposed to what would normally be stated by another, fitter child) is Tam Fry of the National Obesity Council with this well publicized statement:
"I'm absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat (Wii Fit actually uses the more polite notice of "overweight"). 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."
Upon performing a wee bit of research on Tam Fry and his credentials, I stumbled upon this mind boggling quote from the Times UK, early in 2007, in regard to the concept of making childhood obesity a chargeable crime against parents:
"It [obesity] should be a punishable offence," he said. "Very obese children are taking up NHS resources that should be used for legitimate purposes. Parents have got to be held accountable for overfeeding their children or letting their children become fat without taking action."
So, which is it, really? In the short span of one year, this obesity opponent has scaled from promoting fines and incarceration for culpable parents of obese children to chastising a content developer for what is essentially "hard truth." Though Nintendo did concur with Mr. Fay's statement as to the inaccuracy in scaling body mass index for younger participants, the act of a fitness game encouraging exercise to children should not be bound by fluffy sentiment, for half-hearted rhetoric will neither challenge nor engender urgency in personal health maintenance.
Take it from an ex-fat kid. Sometimes the greatest realizations come with the chance to change the situation.
Obesity expert outraged over Wii Fit calling young girl fat, Nintendo apologizes, but stands by product [GoNintendo]
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Posted to Miscellany on 16 May 2008
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: bmi, fat kids, girls cry, what?, wii fit
Wow! a casual game that now needs parental guidance. whats next?
Yup...we need a good game with Mario who pops out and says....Kids??? You're Fat!! Truth is truth. If telling them the truth saves us from seeing one more oversized girl in low riding jeans and cut off shirt...I'm all for it. Old Navy has built an empire on selling clothes to fat people...so Nintendo is leveling the field by trying to get the kids to realize they might not be happy if they're fat...now get over it.
what was the fat girl expecting?
The BMI scale is bullshit, that's what we should be teaching our kids.
Anyway, if a kid is fat, you can guarantee they know it anyway, especially if they're bothering with Wii Fit.
Bearing in mind that the NHS is a public health system, where free treatment for the obese kids will be funded by the taxpayer, it's not so mind boggling that someone might want to see parents take responsibility for their obese kids in one form or another.
I'm surprised this problem has popped up in the UK, it's normally far less reactionary there. When I was a kid if something had told me I was fat my parents probably would've told me to ignore it or get exercising :)
It is called a Wii FIT...y'know :p? What good is it if it can't accurately tell you if you're overweight/underweight/whatever o_O? It was kind of Nintendo to apologize, but they were right to stand by the product :).
If the parents of these kids dont like the fact that the wii fit game tells their kids that they are overweight then they shouldnt let them play the damn game in the first place. Its called PARENTAL DISCRETION!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GET REAL PEOPLE! ITS A GAME!!!!!!!!!!
Jasmin x