Comments on: Let’s talk about kids and the Wii Fit

By: Katja

Katja — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:26:16 +0000

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.

By: random (& probably dull) things « Mother Issues

random (& probably dull) things « Mother Issues — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:25:58 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Ln

Ln — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:18:43 +0000

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”.

By: kelly

kelly — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:06:15 +0000

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.

By: Shelley

Shelley — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:44:36 +0000

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.