Maybe the real threat to kids isn't coming from Grand Theft Auto IV--could the friendly-seeming Nintendo Wii be the real culprit out to destroy our world's youth?
Anecdotal reports coming out of England point to new fitness "game" Wii Fit destroying kids' self-esteem by calling them fat. A poster on the DIS forums:
"My DSD came round this weekend and we let her play on our wii-fit. 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. She is a healthy 10 year old girl with an active lifestyle, she swims and dances every week. She is 92lbs and 4ft9" tall and there is not an inch of fat on her. She is solidly built but not fat. She was devasted to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her that she isn't. I know it is just a game but seriously we already have to worry about young girls starving themselves to look like the magazine models and now we have a game that tells them their fat. This to me is very worrying and I hope that is doesn't cause emotional problems for any youngsters out there"
The poster has written Nintendo an email, but hasn't heard back yet.
EDIT: Wii Fit makes it clear that their BMI calculations often don't apply to children, so we imagine this is what happened in this case.
Comment(s)
If you take offense to a game calling you fat, you are fat. If you don't take offense to a game calling you fat, then you aren't fat. Pretty simple concept.
Better then saying "I'm not fat, i'm just big boned."
@JDarkley: good catch on the non-metric units
If a kid can't take the humiliation from a video game what the heck will they do when their classmates are ripping on them??
@JDarkly...
The game doesn't measure "weight" it measured BMI (Body Mass Index). So it can be skewed. For instance if a 5'0" bodybuilder who weighs 180+ pounds would be considered "overweight" because he's not in, what BMI considers, an average perameter for healthy living.
If a kid can't take the humiliation from a video game what the heck will they do when their classmates are ripping on them??
@JDarkly...
The game doesn't measure "weight" it measured BMI (Body Mass Index). So it can be skewed. For instance if a 5'0" bodybuilder who weighs 180+ pounds would be considered "overweight" because he's not in, what BMI considers, an average perameter for healthy living.
O yeah, it must be impossible that someone decided to translate the measurements from metric for the story to make sense here in the USA; it is impossible to to do that!
Tell me why my friend can eat a whole pizza in one sitting, sit on his ass all day long playing Xbox 360 and weigh 135lbs but if I eat 2 slices I have to go and run on my treadmill for 2.25 miles so it doesn't take up residence in my mid section???
Plus BMI is a bogus measurement chart. How is it that someone on The Biggest Loser can weigh 275lbs and look fatter than the guy who is tipping the scales at 345lbs? There's way too much to take into account here.
After talking to several parents at the office here, everyone agreed that that IS pretty big for a girl her age at that height.
If you put it into perspective, there's 6ft models out there that weigh 100lbs, you take off an entire 1'3" all of a sudden 92 lbs seems like a lot. And keep in mind females weight different than guys.
A 5'8" man that weighs 170 looks healthy. A 5'8" woman that weighs 170 looks overweight. Just a fact of life.
English people do use pounds and feet from time to time (especially when talking about people), and the use of miles is very common.
Any amount of notion you'll give to anybody that they might be overweight causes a lot more distress than most users commenting on this page seem to understand. The mind is fragile, and while most of us on here may be a bit more secure and accepting in our, and others', appearance, we're far from being an example of the larger demographic of those who are already severely insecure. And they'll definitely take a video game's word on how 'fit' they really are. Don't look down on them because of that fact either, we all have our hang-ups.
:D
I can wrap my fingers all the way around the wrists of everyone I know and have my fingers overlap on the other side. On myself there is an inch gap between the same fingers. Same sort of thing goes for my ankles, and seems to apply to all my bones.
I'm living proof that big boned is an actual thing and not just an excuse for fat; tho in most cases it IS used as an excuse for fat.
*shrug*
Just food for thought I guess.
Besides, if she's just big boned or has muscle or something, she shouldn't take her BMI seriously.
What the bloody hell is a DSD?