The Daily Mail is condemning video games again--and this time it's Nintendo that bears the brunt of its vocal indignation. Although the Wii and DS have been generally insulated from the usual haranguing of traditional video games in such sections of the British press because of their popularity among the elderly, women, and on cruises, family friendly Wii Fit has managed to incur the wrath of the tabloid.

The reason is that an unnamed 10-year-old girl from South East England was told by the game, during its Body Mass Index test, that she was "fat." (Wii Fit actually puts users into a variety of categories, the two heaviest of which are "overweight" and "obese.")

The stepfather of the girl, who didn't want to be named for her sake, said, "She is a perfectly healthy, 4-feet-9-inch-tall 10-year-old who swims, dances, and weighs only six stone. She is solidly built but not fat. She was devastated to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her she isn't."

The paper then enlisted the opinion of Tam Fry, a spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum, who called for a ban on kids playing the game, presumably meaning she wanted to see it brandishing an 18 age gate sticker. She said, "I am absolutely aghast that children are being told they are fat. 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."

However, Nintendo declined to entertain her suggestion, simply saying, "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."






-lol, I think its funny. I kind of wish they would have given out names and pictures to see if they were really fat, because then its about damn time someone told some people their fat, even if its a video game. Although on another hand, I find it completely ridiculous that the girl took if so offensively. I mean its your BMI, its not the most accurate thing in the world.

lol..."kids say the darndest things" don't they haha. but thats a little too much to be saying kids shouldnt play this game, its like they're trying to put an explicit label on on a game that doesn't have the knowledge to argue back.

wow... that's so funny & sad all in one. i think bashing on the game for telling the truth is so stupid.

huuu daa h3lll curr...

4' 9. Thats pretty tall for a 10 year old. 6 stones? Shes pretty skinny. If the child can't figure out that she's not fat by just looking at herself, there is a parental problem. When I was 10, I didn't need a game to tell me what I looked like.

hey, have you heard of a thing called society, or maybe the media??

WELL it's pretty cool and basically if you are not a size 000 you are fat.

Dude, the game is supposed to help fix your posture and balance as well. Sure, it does show the BMI, but honestly if parents are going to be unhappy about it, maybe they should go look up the BMI online --- they shouldn't be targeting Nintendo. Also, for children, I believe there is a different way that the BMI is measured, so technically the weighing part shouldn't be for kids...


Wait, 6 stones = 84 lbs. LUL when I was 4'9, I think I was probably 70 lbs. I can't remember. I just know that when I was first started high school, I was 5'0 and weighed around 84 lbs. That was when I used to be skinny.

betch you are still a skinny slore!

lmao we did an assignment on this in science class. i thought it was pretty funny .

I'm trying to state that at 10 years old, your mind shouldn't be that fragile. How does she get by school? School kids are cruel!

Why would you depend on a video game to give you health information?

I agree. This is the best response thus far

What's a slore? It's sounds dirty.


*depends on Wii Fit to give me health information*

i'm guessing a slore is a slut+whore put together?

Amen on Dee's answer. Right on the money.