WiiFit doesn't lie.. accept it, SHE'S FAT!

In before shitstorm.

And isn't 92 pounds for a 10 year old a little heavy?

fatass

I'm guessing the BMI stuff Wii Fit uses gets very inaccurate for young children? Kids that age can be of wildly differing weights and heights for all sorts of reason. I'd have thought the measuring stuff is only really accurate once you've gone through puberty and your body has "evened out".

JUST AS PLANNED.

Incoming FOX Story in 3..2..1..

lol "owww, get off of me, your hurting me."

maybe just a glitch in the calculations.

"She is solidly built".

Yeah, I heard that excuse before...

You buy your kids a set of scales? gee, great parenting ace.

That's pretty damn funny.

I was going to say something but that would've just been weird.

So I'll just say this "lol fat kids"

Not that I have much room to talk I'm 5'4 and something like 170. Granted my legs are about as thick as Chun Lis for some damn reason.

"I'm not fat, I'm big boned!"

She's not fat! Her mom told her she's just big-boned.

Pictures??
we need proof that will tell if she is or not fat.

@tibbie: Oh snap man! That's like super-same-time posting!

It's not just Wii Fit. According to halls.md, she's 10lbs overweight.

Put her stats into this:

[www.halls.md]

Considering this is targeted to families (well, to just about anyone in general) this could actually be a pretty big issue. At least with this case the parents were active and didn't just ignore it. But it seems like there are a lot of people who don't care enough about parenting to be that active, unfortunatly.

It's because it uses the BMI and the BMI doesn't take people who don't fit into the norm into account.

They should have done the new Waist/Belly measurement, though how they'd work that I don't know. Wii Tape Measure anyone?

@SkutSkut
holy crap!! im 5'11 and 180 pounds and im a bodybuilder. crap you must have some big ass legs of pure muscle.

@Foxstar Sixtail: At 4'9 for a girl? Not really. It only seems heavy in relation to the fact that there are models that weight that much that sit between 5'3 and 6'0.

I wonder if the identification software has been tweaked for different regions? There are some serious differences between what is the "average" body type in North America and what the norm is in Japan and Europe.

We're a fatter nation comparatively, but I *really* hope that Nintendo didn't release a game that calls you fat on the virtue of you being not-Japanese. Although that would be hilarious.

@Blebleman:
i know. i submitted it and took a look at the posts and thought "tose weren't my exact wo... oh!"

@lilkao: I think it's cause my ass is so big and they have to be in proportion lol. It's not all muscle either :(

Or my big bubble butt makes up a lot of weight or something I'm not sure really.

I barely have any belly girth so it has to be something else.

@Miksho: Average body types may differ between cultures, but healthy body types do not. If she's overweight in Japan, she may definitely have a chance of being unhealthily built.

92 at 10?!
if thats not fat, than crap, i guess my current 185 at 24 is skinny as sin... erm... no...

lady, you kid IS FAT.
and probably as "solidly built" as cartmen for crying out loud.

queue pic of Michelin boy eating McDonalds

Return of the red eyes.

Seriously Kotaku, You may want to invest in some sort of image correcting program. It seems every post with a real person has red eyes nowadays.

Anyone who allows a video game to affect their self esteem...

@One Way Mule:
What, not everyone in the gaming industry is evil?

@Sofox:
Young kids are easily affected by everything.

hmmmmm

Well I never had a piece of equipment tell me I was fat, I had my peers all through school for that...AND LOOK HOW FINE I TURNED OUT?!

*twitch**twitch*

She is overweight. Put her stats into any BMI calculator.

The amount of women who die from being overweight far exceed the amount that die from being underweight.

Stop feeding your fat kid fat foods.

Its a term of endearment.

@Foxstar Sixtail: according to this chart, which seems to be the common system, she'd be well within the norm or even underweight for that height.

I think this is one of those cultural things that are bound to happen with Japanese products here. Americans are sensitive, sensitive about being sensitive, and overprotective of their sensitivity. And we're fat. So of course being told we're fat is going to cause some people to get all up in arms - both those who are and those who aren't. My guess is that the Japanese would in large part just laugh it off, whether they were fat or not. If you're comfortable with yourself, and you know whether you're fat or not, you're not going to care what a game tells you.

Converting the number to metric I can only get a BMI about 19-20, which is clearly normal.

Ether the BMI on the Wii is fudged, or it also could be that EVERYONE is told there fat first so that the game can tell them later that they are slimmer.
Insert "Xbox360 achievement" sound.

Too much Big Brain Academy, maybe; it's here head that's fat.

kid's obviously tubby.

I am sure it is water weight....

Wow, I have never seen so many soccer moms with Peter Pan complex. All their signatures freaks me out, it's eerily similiar to an armageddon countdown.

She's not fat. She was just holding a 23-pound bag of Cheetos while on the balance board.

@Fryfat:
I have [www.nhlbisupport.com]

and she has a BMI of 19,9

Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

So please explain your comment!

i tried reading that board and couldnt understand a damn thing... dd, ds, dh, dsd, dd7, gaylord palms...its all giberish. freaky moms dieting their kids and taking them to some freaky place called slimming world. i fail to comprehend any of it, and i have a feeling that anyone who can has serious problems, non weight related.

She isn't built like a model so obviously she is fat.

BMI is not a good indicator of healthiness and being overweight. Muscle weighs more than fat. Someone could have 8% body fat because they are so muscular that they are technically "overweight" on the BMI charts. The only true measure of whether or not someone is overweight to calculate your fat-lean ratio, which cannot be done on scales.

That said, too many people in the US and around the world have a distorted version of what is healthy and what is not. Many people who are overweight are loathe to admit it, especially when it comes to their children. However, it is a bit much for a game to tell a 10 year old child she is overweight. Children are different shapes and sizes growing up, and sometimes they don't lose that extra fat until after puberty. If the child is participating in healthy activities, and does not eat a lot of junk food, then she is more than likely not overweight, and just needs to grow up some.

With a BMI of 19.9, she's not fat. If anything, she might be somewhat stocky from exercise, but that's the exact opposite of fat (remember: muscle is heavy). It sounds like this girl is possibly more muscular than normal (assuming the mother isn't wearing rose-colored glasses).

That said, there are two things at fault: several people openly question if the Wii Fit took her weight correctly, as a couple of posters claim that their copy in the UK was off by nearly 20 pounds.

Second: I HAVE a 10 year old daughter...and I'm pretty sure if Wii Fit tells her she's fat, she'd laugh and say "WhatEVER". This sounds like the kid has other issues, possibly confidence and body image issues, which aren't Wii Fit's fault. Did anyone notice she referred to her as her DSD? That's DEAR STEP DAUGHTER. I think you have your emotional issues and step-mom drama accounted for RIGHT THERE.

Ironically, A video game calling children fat is a lot more damaging than running over prostitutes and gratuitously shooting aliens or Nazis.

But you won't hear about it, not at all. The great nintendo can do no wrong!

I'm thinking about doing some Parkour today, I just hope I can get off of whatever I get on.

@WizarDru: With a BMI of 19.9, she's not fat. If anything, she might be somewhat stocky from exercise, but that's the exact opposite of fat (remember: muscle is heavy). It sounds like this girl is possibly more muscular than normal (assuming the mother isn't wearing rose-colored glasses).

From what I understand, childrens BMI is calculated from percentage of population rather than pure height/weight as with adults - maybe they're using a data set from a 'thinner' nation (possibly Japan, or a european nation)?

Seems like you missed the part where he said the girl has an active lifestyle.

Fat is less heavy than muscle, and a growing child doing a lot of exercise can develop faster than normal.

If these parents went through health class and paid attention then their teachers should have told them about certain things such as how muscle > fat. I remember a long time ago in my 7th grade health class I was told how BMI is pretty innacurate for measuring "fat" for the most part just because of other factors. Still I can't imagine some 10 year old being really muscular and i'd assume that 92 at 10 is pretty fat since I was 80ish and used to play outside every day.

So all I feel like doing is putting in a sarcastic comment of "ZOMG NINTENDO CALLED SOMEONE FAT! IN A NATION WHERE 30-40% OF THE POPULATION IS OBESE! =O =O"

@sj4iy: "BMI is not a good indicator of healthiness and being overweight.... calculate your fat-lean ratio, which cannot be done on scales."

Holy farking crap! Somebody else understands... Did you pay attention in intro-bio, or a health/nutrition class or something?

For a few years, I went from being like 150 to 180, at 5'7" and you wouldn't have been able to find any fat on me. The BMI put me at highly overweight. Nope, I just had muscle.

Then I started working midnights, dropped to 160, and then climed back to about 170. I don't work out as much, but I have a slight layer of flab on my gut.. BMI still lists me as overweight, but you'd never think so if you saw me.

Ok, I don't know alot about the Wii Fit as I have never used one but....why was she checking her weight??? I was under the impression that the whole fitness program thing was separate from the games.

Sounds like she might have had some issues about herself to begin with. When I was 10, I don't think I ever thought about my weight.

@Kaedex: Fat is less heavy than muscle...

Dense. Fat is less dense. It makes a difference.

People need to teach their children to ignore things like that. It's still how active and what you eat, not what you weigh that tends to determine the most health risks.

She also needs to take the platform and put it on a hardwood floor if she hasn't. It gets messed up readings on carpets..or so I hear.

@Foxstar Sixtail:
Cue obligatory "South Park" reference:

Weight Gain 4000 Announcer: "Are you tired of being a 90-pound weakling?"

Cartman: "Yeah! I only weigh 90 pounds!"

If she's overweight then she is overweight, simple as. She may not be 'fat' but she may have accumulated some muscle or be a little heavier for some other reason. I don't know if she is fat but overweight might be a suitable term.

Even if it does use BMI, Asians use a different standard. For an Asian, a BMI of more than 23 is considered overweight.

@ThatGuyOverThere: 5'4" female..need to lose about 15 lbs to get down to a good lean/fat ratio. Would put me 10lbs overweight on bmi charts. Doctor isn't concerned about my weight at ALL. She says the numbers don't matter.

We can't get the public at large to understand that though. Also, games like this just kinda further the problem of using bmi for a health marker.

I thought the game was just the balancing stuffs. I didn't know it'd check your weight and all.

Coming soon from Nintendo!

Wii Bulemia!

Use the new Wii Toilet accessory to accurately measure the amount of weight you're losing! Watch as your Mii sheds pounds and becomes as beautiful as a Hollywood actress!

First: I really hope Witz is reading some of this shit. Some of you sound like commenters from Oh No They Didn't rather than Kotaku.

Second: As other posters pointed out, BMI (height to weight ratio) is indeed a poor measure of healthy weight, since muscle weighs more than fat. And even if BMI were a good measure, the given ratio is indeed quite "normal."

Yes, being overweight is a real health problem, and common in America. But anorexia and bulimia are real health problems too, physically and emotionally; instead of worrying about weighing too much we need to worry about getting more physical activity.

And whether psychologically damaging or not, "kid's tubby" jokes are just stupid, not funny, anyway.

Meh, she's got it easy. There's a game called "Heatseeker", where you are constantly yelled at and told you're a "cretin", "fucking lowlife", "retard", "slowpoke", crippled, butter-fingers...

I'm curious about if they did calibrate the scales per region cause I can tell you the average European weighs more than someone over in Japan just on genetics alone.

@jp182: I was under the impression that you can't even get into the games without weighing yourself, based on the previews I saw. If that's not the case, someone tell me, and I might actually buy the game. At the moment, I don't plan to precisely because of the issue that came up in this post.

@Kazzahdrane: Yeah, I call my chubbiness "evening out" as well!

Nintendo makes video games. Wii Fit is a video game.

A video game isn't going to make you "fit."

Nor can a video game tell you if you are overweight or not.

Nintendo is just selling their scale to be more than it actually is.

This was bound to happen. It's funny how easy it is to direct hate to a toy that promotes physical activity, and claim it can hurt the self esteem of people who take it's advice too seriously.

Its not meant to replace a doctor's opinion. But America is very very fat. And like the rest of he world - the Japanese don't mince words.

I guess it's easier to strike out at Nintendo then magazines and television that sell the crap food lifestyle while showing that all women should look like 14 year old Polish models.

Lets ban the Wii, get it off the market and get our fat asses back to the couch. Cause at the very least, it would make us feel like we accomplished something today and doesn't that deserve a special treat?

I'm hungry.