Nintendo Apologizes After Wii Fit 'Fat' Comment

On DISBoards.com, a parent described the incident:

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.

Nintendo was immediately assailed as, rightly, it was pointed out that BMI measurements for children aren't accurate. In fact, there are reasons that a BMI measurement may not be accurate for certain adults, as well.

A Nintendo statement said:

Nintendo would like to apologize to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit.

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.

Well, it's good to get all the controversy out of the way before the U.S. launch, right?

Source: By Tech EX - http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/