Noah has been saving up for a wii for some time now and we said we’d match him when he got halfway. He has his paper route money (10% goes towards tzdakah, half goes into saving, half goes into his pocket) from which he gets a tidy little sum but there are snacks to buy, games to trade in for better games, etc. so it’s been slow going until he got to his birthday month and was able to hit Grandma up a little early. So we’re going to buy it any minute now (maybe this weekend — I’ll have to ask Brett).
We have rules about video games — only E for everyone and the occasional T for Teen, no blood or zombies — and the one we all decided on last night is no Wii Fit.
See, the Wii Fit has that BMI thing on it and the BMI is bunk.
I know two fabulous little girls. They are active in their daily lives (regular playful exercise like bikes and rollerskating as well as structured events like dance and sports) and eat well with lots of variety as well as occasional treats. They are healthy and strong and gorgeous. And the Wii Fit just told them they are overweight.
They’re not overweight; they are just right. But being girls, they are likely to struggle with the whole fat idea especially because they are regular-sized girls and not skinny Minnies. They have strong shoulders and strong legs and to get a BMI in the not-fat range they’d have to do some seriously disordered dieting. They would have to hurt themselves and their health in order for the Wii Fit to cut them some slack.
And this is why we’re not getting a Wii Fit. We don’t need that crap in our house especially when we have our own sturdy little girl-child.
Why oh why doesn’t Nintendo set it up so you can turn off that option? Why not have a Wii Fit Kids program that cheers the kids on instead of telling them how fat they are? You (sorta, not really) apologized but you didn’t really do anything, did you? I can only assume that none of you were ever normal-sized little girls on the edge of adolesence and starting to worry about how you look in a bathing suit, were you? And none of you have daughters, right? Otherwise maybe you’d want to help keep our kids from throwing up in bathroom stalls after lunch by at least giving parents the option to turn it off.
(Speaking as one who has been there, once you’ve been called “fat”, there’s precious little your mother can do to convince you otherwise. Because she’s just your mom and she’s supposed to think you’re pretty.)
Seriously, Nintendo — are you listening? These little girls — they get enough criticism about their perfect little curvy bodies everytime they glance at a billboard, magazine, television show or movie. You really want to hit them when they’re just trying to play virtual hula hoops together?
Wii Fit, you suck. And until you shape up (pun intended), you’re not welcome in my house.
(Can you tell if someone is fat according to BMI by looking at them? You might be surprised who got labeled overweight.)
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We have a Wii fit but you can bypass that BMI stuff in a flash and get to the fun stuff. We all ignore it.
We like the wii fit, but I’d love to turn of the BMI function. Being pregnant and getting on the wii fit is a bit bummer- everyday I hear a shocked voice saying, “That’s OBESE!”
We enjoy Outdoor Challenge, which is very active and doesn’t measure BMI. When we do use the wii fit, my kids have lots of fun adjusting heights and weighing in with just a pair of shoes to listen to it complain about them being underweight.
We love our wii fit. And I agree about the BMI part, but it is not mandatory. I’ve ignored it for the last few months then for fun weighed in on Saturday. I gained back the weight I lost during my first trimester and that mean little machine wanted to know why I gained weight and “Knocked Up Fat Pregnant” was surprising not an option. Hiss.
Anyhoo – I think for kids, the sports package is the most fun. Henry loves the boxing and he is actually good at it!
Oh but I do wish Nintendo would make a kids version of the fit because some of the balance games are really hard for little guys.
MIL got us a Wii fit for Christmas and although I’ve done the BMI test a couple times – and been unhappy with what it told me – it is also the ONLY thing that has gotten me to exercise this much. My husband and I are both regularly finding time in our schedules to exercise (and both of us are working and in school full time, so that’s major). I’m averaging 5 hours of cardio exercise each week now that I have the Wii fit, compared to virtually none before…I’ll be the first to agree that BMI isn’t a reliable measure of health, but it’s not necessary to do the BMI test at all beyond initial setup.
Thanks for the warning: I was considering purchasing one and have 3 young daughters.
And the link to Jessica…there was a time when I shared her height, weight, and build, was VERY fit, and yeah, kept hearing that I weighed too much. Over and over and over and over. It screwed with my head a bit and left me with a “Why bother?” attitude (meaning I let my weight slide and my fitness/athleticism unravel). I’m beyond that now, but it did absolutely mess with my head.
So no wii fit at Spring’s house and thanks once again for the tip.
Thanks for disclosing the unfitness of BMI. When the BMI measurement first made an appearance I knew it wasn’t an accurate measurement-as a very fit runner I am “almost” overweight. The interesting thing is that I have been having some medical workups done at U of M (THE University of Michigan) and right at the top of each chart page it includes ht., wt, and BMI based on those numbers. You would think that doctors at that level would know better than to use that number. Certainly you can’t expect makers of Wii to know better than them
We were gonna get a Wii. Our doctor suggested Wii Fit in particular. Then, I heard about it telling you you are obese when you step on it, assuming you are obese of course. It would tell you something else if you are something else. Neither my daughter nor I need anyone else telling us we are obese or overweight and we are certainly not going to pay for a gadget that does so.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to comment on something I actually know. I would like to point out that Ellyn Satter addresses these issues in the best manner. I am referring to her book Your Child’s Weight. Her website also has a ton of information about these matters http://www.ellynsatter.com. Go visit you will be impressed.
I totally agree with you, Dawn. My friend, (Buffy) got that game for her girls for Christmas and it told Olivia, who just turned 5, that she is borderline obese and she isn’t even as sturdy as Maddie or Lucia. I didnt’ realize you could turn that function off. They should make it so that you have to turn it ON instead.
I like our Wii fit, and the kids like doing the exercises and games on it. I will be fiddling with it to turn off the BMI rigamarole when I get a few mins, though. For them anyway. For me, it’s a nice little prod, but then again I know just how much I care about basic BMI standards. I will always be clsssified overweight…at my most comfy, sporty weight I will still be that on those charts. I’m ok with that, but I don’t want the WiiFit telling my daughter that, ever.
Ooh, I heart this post. My 11 yo son is a BIG boy. He was 12 pounds at birth and has always been larger (taller, heavier) than his peers. As a parent who is considered clinically obese by BMI standards, and who was called FAT as a child by her siblings (and I wasnt and have pictures to prove it), I know all the damage that can be done to all concerned. I have een overly paranoid about my son and his weight but my pediatrician (bless his little soul) has repeatedly told me there is no concern. He is tracking fine for hieght and wieght and I MUST always remember he was a big baby, his father is a huge man (over 6 foot and 260 lbs). My son will be a big man.
My daughter on the other hand (whom I did not raise) to me is dangerously thin. It bothers me as much as my sons weight does.
I completely agree with you (though I struggle in my own life) on your thoughts on WII fit Does it tell you if you are underweight? Aneroxic? Bulemic? Should eat a hamburger or two?
My husband recently tried our wii fit for the first time. While he could stand to lose some weight, he’s also got a big frame, so he showed up as obese on the body test. Besides making a “negative” chime, the wii fit also plumped up his mii (the little character representing him) so that it went from slim to more of a beach ball. That was bad enough, but his mii made that transformation EVERY TIME he was measured. It was pretty demoralizing. My father-in-law refuses to use their wii fit because he doesn’t want to have to go through that himself.
And, suz, it does tell you if you’re underweight (according to BMI) as well. I only know this because my daughter–who, honestly, should be playing the games and not doing body tests–got a bad measurement, possibly because she was wiggling.
While I think the games are fun for my daughter, I definitely agree that they should have an option to remove the BMI/overweight/underweight aspects, especially for kids.
The Fit is all about the players competing with one another. It’s easy to compare one’s BMI with another person’s, instead of just weight. The competition aspect is what bothers me about the Fit. I find it irritating to have to wait for my score, and see it compared to other users’ scores. It’s a waste of time, and interferes with a good workout.
I still like the Fit, and far prefer my kids to use it instead of playing regular games. But if I had a young child I would probably tell him or her that the BMI is bunk, that it doesn’t take into account muscle or frame, and that he or she should ignore that function.
Dawn:
Your BMI link suggests that BMI is not perfectly correlated with body fat, which is a useful thing to know, but it doesn’t mean that BMI isn’t a useful medical tool, when used properly.
Obese is a medical term, that means something in terms of predicted health outcomes, as, for example, does high blood pressure.
Here’s the CDC link on the BMI:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_BMI/about_childrens_BMI.htm
“For children, BMI is used to screen for obesity, overweight, healthy weight, or underweight. However, BMI is not a diagnostic tool. For example, a child may have a high BMI for age and sex, but to determine if excess fat is a problem, a health care provider would need to perform further assessments. These assessments might include skinfold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, family history, and other appropriate health screenings.”
I’ve struggled with weight since adolescence, and know the problems that girls face in our society to be thin for cultural reasons. But, knowing those fears doesn’t mean that I’m going to ignore the health consequences of being overweight.
But I certainly don’t consider the WII qualified to give a medical diagnosis. There should be an easy way to avoid it, though — just put in the appropriate height so that everyone in the family is within the broad normal range (i.e. BMI 18-25 for adults and between 5-85th percentile for children — I’m guessing WII does it wrong for children anyway). If the BMI is too high on WII, adjust the height so that it’s lower. WII can measure weight, but it doesn’t measure height, right?
My kids get a big kick out of WII. It would drive me crazy to have WII say “You are obese” but you can work around it (and you don’t have to adjust the numbers much, so I don’t think it would change the games any).
I never put too much stock on the BMI measurements. I don’t look my weight. I never have. I’m 180 now but look like I could be 150-60. When I was over 200 I looked like I was 180. When I was very fit and thin I looked like the other skinny girls in my team but I weighed more than they did…a lot more…I “looked” 105 but weighed 125…so what is on the scale is never a true representation of how fit, healthy and toned I may be. I’ve always won the prizes at those “guess your weight” type deal in fairs. They always guessed wrong…by 20 or so pounds. So yes, although it has consitently labeled me obese I’ve always ignore it.
What is it w/ me and omitted last paragraphs…ugh…meant to add:
That although I’ve always been able to ignore it I’m not too sure my kid could so I need to have a conversation with her about this…we don’t have a wii but like me her body doesn’t match her weight. She weighs heavy but doesn’t look it (tall) so i would hate for her to hang her self steem on some stupid number.
Let us know how you like the wii…I’ve been lusting after it but can’t justify buying it just yet.
I agree about the BMI & the wii fit. We talked about getting it for hub & I, but truth is we can do all that on our own-we both know enough to not have some electric device telling us. Plus we have previous injuries that means we CANT do some things, kwim?
Plus we have two girls with very different body types & I don’t want to even start that yet. We actiually only have the leapster tv and other leappads they use mainly in the car on long trips. But beyond that we said no videogames as especially our oldest would quickly be addicted. She plays some games online that’s enough for me. Great post!
Once when I was at the bottom of my personal weight range (problematically underweight at 101 lbs) a personal trainer told me my BMI said I was 10 lbs overweight. I read him the riot act. He thought, of course that I was insulted that he called me fat. I knew good and well I wasn’t fat. I was worried about what they were telling women who WERE 10 lbs overweight–that they were morbidly obese?
After a month of working the circuit training system at that gym, I gained the 10 lbs I actually needed–muscles.
BMI is BS. Glad you gave me the heads up, because Cole has been vaguely interested in getting a wii for wii-fit. I don’t want my own sturdy girls around that crap!
You should lie to the thing and trick it into thinking you and the kids are much much taller than you really are. That way you don’t have to hear it insult you. I know you are concerned for your little girl but I think that you and her friends likely have way more influence on her body image than a toy.
BTW, I am secretly hoping that your post will may sales of it go down, I work in retail and it’s so annoying how crazy people get for these things!:D!
The wii fit does accurately measure and remark “underweight.”
Your children are home, but you might be interested to know that schools are measuring children and sending notes home regarding BMI if it is outside the normal parameters for children encouraging physician evaluation. My 3rd percentile kid had no response to that, but when the wii fit told him he was underweight he decided he needed to sit still for dinner . . . and add ice cream.
For me the problem isn’t the BMI but the graph beside, which uses the categories “Normal,” “Underweight” and “Overweight.” If they could eliminate that . . . (and honestly, my plumped up mii looks just like me).
Dh and I love the wii fit, but can see why it’d be better if they offered a “fit kids” category and functionality.
Abebech, I did know that about the schools — not one of the reasons we keep ‘em home but definitely a bonus!! (Also my kids are much more active than I was when I was in school because Madison pretty much runs around all day and Noah does his breakdancing during school hours.)
(posted on blog & sent via email)
I blogged on this too. It’s downright dangerous.(www.familyfeedingdynamics.blogspot.com) I also have said that the school BMI measure and the whole “war on obesity” would be enough to make me home-school! Luckily we found a progressive school near us. I will come to any school with a pitch fork that wants to measure BMI… My niece, a strong girl, visited and we wanted to do hula hoops etc. I just entered her height wrong and we clicked right through it all. It is awful though. I have to admit, I do the Wii fit about 3 times a week. I like to do it and watch TV, I just skip all that crap and never do a body test… Needs some major reworking.
I absolutely agree that there should be an adult-controlled way to shut it off for kids, but I don’t agree that the whole thing is a waste just because that option isn’t there. Kids are going to get a lot of feedback about their fitness (or lack thereof) and even though this is One More Damn Thing, it is just one of many, and it has a lot of benefits that don’t exist with the other misleading media.
I talk to my daughter about health, fitness, and body image all the time, and this was just one more thing to talk about. I’d rather have that conversation and then take turns exercising for an hour, than not have the Wii Fit at all!
Let’s bombard the company to give us an option to turn it off. Because geez, in this -14 degree weather, it would be nice to find a little more variety in our movement options besides “crazy dance to the ipod in the bedroom.” And nat could use more exercises in copying specific movements, challenging herself to get better at balance, etc.
Just wishing Noah some luck in finding a Wii. We’ve been trying to for a few weeks… not that we’d actually get one.
I HATE BMI. But I found the Wii Fit to be really seriously fun when we played over Christmas. You can “trick” it as past commenters said (6 of us played under one profile), but I know there’s something to be said about not purchasing it b/c it’s not good to have that BMI stuff in your house. (Did you know though, that you get to be a PENGUIN and catch fish??? Also, I’m awesome at hula-hoop. For reals.)
I hate BMI. I’m categorized as being underweight by quite a bit. I think my BMI is 15 and it only rose into “normal” when I gained more than 40lbs with pregnancy. I’m 5’10ish and weigh about 105-115lbs depending on my current level of activity, etc. Doctors use this to try to discourage me from nursing, to tell me to eat more, etc. The only time I’ve ever been able to gain weight was when I was pregnant and packed on the pounds easily.
As a preteen and young teen I briefly suffered from an eating disorder that IS NOT TALKED ABOUT. No, I didn’t starve myself. I drank olive oil, ate tons of fatty foods, and was basically trying to gain weight using any means possible so that the school would stop harassing me about being “anorexic”, something which I absolutely was NOT. I was basically force feeding myself to the point of seriously wanting to vomit (but not vomiting), and refusing to do anything active because I was afraid I’d lose weight.
For all my troubles I think I ended up putting on a couple of pounds. I felt like crap, and stopped.
My body doesn’t seem to want to go above about 115-120ish at the most.
Weight is not health. It CAN be an indicator of health. if someone is eating only lousy foods and not exercising, they’re going to generally weigh more. But it’s NOT the only indicator of health. If someone is larger and eating well and is active, chances are good that she’s a heck of a lot healthier than the ‘normal’ person with crappy health habits.
It’s absurd that the Wii is using BMI as the indicator of health. The person should be compared to himself or herself only, and be rewarded for longer workout sessions or met-goals of weight loss or weight gain or whatever.
definitely don’t need something else telling our active healthy daughters that they are ‘fat’
weird that they don’t just make it an option that you can turn off.
I was telling my husband and 7 year old daughter about this in the car and it suddenly struck us as hilarious. It tell you your fat! And makes a bad sound! And plumps up your Mii! My husband said they should invent a game called Wii Fat, that says, “Yep, you’re doing fine! Have another cheeseburger!” (My husband is fat, so this is not a skinny man making fun of heavier people.) Then my seven year old said that she doesn’t care. “Why should I care what a stupid old video game says? It doesn’t know everything.”
Our daughter is pretty independent and stubborn (and older than Madison) so I think she could handle it. She’s already thinking about body image anyway, and the messages that girls get. I’m not naive, I know she won’t get through it unscathed, but I hope she can think critically about these matters.
I am going to buy OUTDOOR CHALLENGE this week! And hope it takes the place of the horrific treadmill work out!
Scary. And scary about normal-sized kids worrying about their weight. My daughter is like me and her dad — she has a small bone structure. (I am very grateful for adjustable waistbands in kids’ pants). But the other day I was getting her dressed in her leotard for gymnastics, and she made a comment about not wanting her daycare friends to see her tummy — her perfect, age-appropriate, still-slightly-toddler-rounded tummy. I mean, I’m talking about someone who’s in the 12th percentile weight-wise for her age (5). I almost fell over.
Long way of saying, I can’t imagine what this is like for kids who have sturdier builds. And for the record, I am 128 pounds or so, and I *always* fool the guy who guesses your weight at the carnival — they guess 110.
I’ve been thinking about this some more. I don’t share the BMI hate. Indeed, the photos of the overweight and obese BMI folks, well — they look pretty overweight a/o obese. Yes, a few very fit athletes are going to get the wrong answer but so what? BMI is just a screening tool. If it is misued by a doctor, that is the doctor’s fault, just as it would be if they misread some other screening tool. I was thinking about this after my glucose challenge. The number itself doesn’t mean anything — it is just menat to trip further testing or evaluation.
Now I understand the fear of instilling negative feelings about one’s body at tender ages, and a “kid” option would be great for the Wii Fit. But overall, if BMI helps identify kids and adults who need help managing their weight, then Yippeee!
And I am approaching this whole issue as someone who post-pregnancy really needs to shed about 60 lbs so I am likely a bit sensitive to this issue coming from the confirmed fatty perspective — my BMI is spot on. Sadly.
I don’t like the wii fit measuring the BMI of kids, but I ESPECIALLY don’t like the way it forces even my 2 year old to have a weight related “goal”. I would like to be a bit smaller than I am, but more than that, I would like to be stronger and more fit, and there’s no option to have a goal like that. My 2 year old has stumbled on a sort of work around to the BMI– he has set his height to the maximum (7 foot something). His mii is hilariously thin. An alternative for an adult could be making the mii very short– it would still register as “obese” but it wouldn’t be “you”.
[...] do some testing for quality since I’m not going to be able to pick it up tonight. I agreeDawn that the BMI component on the Wii Fit is probably a bad idea for kids. I think it will be a help [...]