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Nintendo Should Not Call Young Girls “Fat”
By Matthew Kellar | May 20, 2008
As most of you have probably heard. Nintendo, via Wii Fit, had the audacity to call a young girl “fat.” While most gamers are rushing to Nintendo’s defense, I’ve decided it would make for a healthy discussion to play the devil’s advocate on this one. In this case, as in many others, the devil would be anyone with something negative to say about our favored medium.
For the sake of those in the dark, I will make an attempt to succinctly describe the situation. A father of a 10-year-old girl raised complaints about the game Wii Fit labeling his daughter as “fat.” She is 92lbs, 4 feet 9 inches in height, and is described as “healthy.” The father finds this rather unacceptable (although he found it amusing when such descriptors were given to the adults playing the game).
I’ve seen many comments around the internet about how this should simply serve as a reality check to a young girl who may indeed be overweight and therefore motivate her to do something about it. In addition, some wonder why the father holds the game to a different standard with regard to his child rather than adults. With this in mind, one might wonder if the father has a right to be upset if the information is accurate. I would have to say he does have reason for concern.
Our society is full of images in popular media that encourage women to achieve beauty by attaining the thinnest frame possible. As young girls grow up they are constantly bombarded by this demand. It is a very real and growing problem that puts millions of young women at risk for developing an eating disorder. Not only is such a disorder verifiably deadly, it is also preventable. Many choose to simply blame individuals with this particular type of problem and chalk it up to poor decision making. This is an insensitive viewpoint that simplifies a complex problem with a myriad of attributing factors. Would these disorders really still develop without media fixated on thinness? It is hard to say, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to be a little more responsible with what we insist our children expect of their bodies.
Where does a game like Wii Fit, which promotes healthy activity and wellness, fit into the picture? Well, in Nintendo’s decision to market the game to everyone, they made the mistake of allowing a Body Mass Index to be calculated for children. Unfortunately, it is known that BMI is pretty much useless in determining a healthy weight in children due to the fact that children develop at different rates. Thankfully, Nintendo made an effort to clarify this:
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.
It is worth mentioning that a 4’9,” 92lb, 10-year-old girl is probably not overweight. If BMI is to be trusted in this case (for the sake of argument) one finds information that conflicts with the “fat” descriptor Nintendo’s game threw at the girl. A BMI calculator indicates that she falls on the line between “healthy weight” and “at risk” while remaining far below the “overweight” descriptor.
This makes me wonder if Nintendo might have been able to choose better words to use as descriptors during the development of Wii Fit. At the very least they could have used a different set up descriptors when the individual being measured is a child. There is nothing wrong with telling someone the truth, but sometimes we have to make sure it truly is truth and even then we should consider the vulnerabilities of those to whom we tell this “truth.” Telling a child she is “fat” is not going to make her lose weight; it is going to make her lose confidence.
Topics: Articles, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii |
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Comment by thekranz — May 20, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
any girl under 5′10″ and pushing 100 pound is fat. Quit crying and get back on the board tubby!
Comment by Joe Fourhman — May 20, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
Has anybody actually seen the word “fat” in use in Wii Fit? I’m not saying that it’s not in there, but it doesn’t seem to jibe with Nintendo’s usual family-friendly softball approach. Maybe the game used a more medical word for it… but “Nintendo calls girl fat” makes for spicier headlines. Just curious.
Comment by Joe Haygood — May 21, 2008 @ 9:32 am
Well, the game is made in Japan, where obesity affects a very small percentage of the population vs. how it affects people in the US. Also, Japanese culture can be blunt at times, which would also explain the use of the word “fat” instead of “overweight”. To be honest, is a US description any better. Would you like to see “obese” or “morbidly obese” show up when using the Wii Fit board instead of Fat.
Comment by Joe Fourhman — May 21, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
Turns out, “fat” is not in the game… the Wii Fit scale is underweight / ideal / overweight / obese. The girl in question rated “overweight.” Which isn’t much better, but it’s certainly not as insulting as “fat.”
The BBC did a nice interview with the family, and brought out a doctor who pointed out that BMI isn’t always a useful appraisal with children.
But get this… when asked if perhaps their Wii Fit board was maybe improperly calibrated, the Mom admitted that she’s never seen the thing! The BBC should have Wii Fit-weighed her on the spot to see what she rates… it’s possible that their Wii Fit was busted, or a friend had a toe on the scale when the girl weighed in. Or Nintendo simply didn’t account for under-18-year-old BMI eccentricities.
(I tried to post similar earlier in the day, but the comment was lost… so hopefully it will not re-appear and dupe itself.)