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Parenting

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Original poster

DD v.upset by profile on Wii-Fit

69 replies

LightShinesInTheDarkness · 08/01/2009 12:53

I just wondered whether anyone else has come across this problem? DD (10) had a Wii-Fit for Christmas, and when she set up her profile it said she was 'in danger of being overweight'.

Her reaction has been extreme - she has been crying, sworn us to secrecy that we must not tell anyone, passworded her profile. More worrying though, she now insists she is fat, needs to lose weight, wants cucumber for breakfast etc.

We have tried reasoning with her, explaining that its only a machine, can't see her etc. She is beautiful and gorgeous and I thought she believed us when we told her that, but this has rocked her world.

Any tips, please?

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cornflakegirl · 09/01/2009 10:23

You can't unlock new games or record top scores as a guest though.

RubyRioja · 09/01/2009 10:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cornflakegirl · 09/01/2009 11:33

If you use someone else's profile, you'll get frequent messages that the weight is not what it expected. You can just click through them though.

Probably easier for kids just to have their own profile and ignore the Fit Test. You could always set the height to 7ft or something if you want to make a point!

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General parenting

TsarChasm · 09/01/2009 11:41

Hmm this is interesting.

We have a Wii fit and dd was on it the other day on the profile bit. As I walked past I noticed it said she was just hovering on the edge of ok/overweight.

I kid you not she is a real skinny minny. Thankfully she took no notice at all of this bit and just wanted to get on to a game, but I did a bit of a double take because if anything I always think she veers towards being a bit too slim. There's not a scrap of spare on her.

Clearly then it shouldn't be profiling children.

fairimum · 09/01/2009 15:06

can you not go into it and make her height taller? or measure her and add a bit if she wants to change her height?

pollypentapeptide · 09/01/2009 16:36

To cornishpasty - yes you can protect your personal details such as weight and bmi but your mii charachter (or whatever it is called) will change shape to reflect your size. So if you are are overweight, then your mii charachetr will be too . I am aghast that nintendo allow children to be asessed using the same criteria that is used for adults. Very short sighted

IAmTheNewQueenOfMN · 09/01/2009 16:39

it isn't for children
my dd1 (8) has been told that the machine cant calculate her wii fit age properly as she is too young....which is true

you must concince your dd that the bmi reading is not accurate as she is too young....which is true

good luck

pointydog · 09/01/2009 17:09

why
did you make I
cry?
wii fit
you is shit.

mistressmiggins · 09/01/2009 18:04

we have a Wii fit. Its for myself & my partner only. The children can use the Wii fit to play a different ski game.
It is not a replacement for board games or exercise in our family but we do all enjoy playing the games.

When I was growing up, we had a ZX spectrum which my brother & I played on with my dad. We also took real exercise and played board games. It is possible to enjoy computer games as well as real life. Its all about moderation.

BUT I wont let any of my children on the Wii fit purely because of the BMI test.

unfitmother · 09/01/2009 18:09

Can you change the heights once they're entered?

ANTagony · 09/01/2009 18:18

Keep creating new profiles until she gets one shes happy with. Weight varys quite significantly throughout the day - say shes wearing heavy clothes or adjust the clothes amount to manouvere her into the health BMI range. Because of the BMI formula the smaller the person the more variation. Have been experimenting with my DS 2 - very funny experiment - he likes to hula hoop and run into the tele. He has been from extremely underweight to overweight on his selected profiles. Hes 2 and is very tall to average height and average weight.

At 10 most girls seam to be quite body concious and it'll connvince her its just a fallible machine and maybe to enjoy the fun bit of it once she gets over the body bit.

thatsnotmymonster · 09/01/2009 21:38

It's just a games console. It's just for fun. Yes you can do fitness stuff but it's not going to make you an athlete.

Why by a 10yo a wii fit? So that they can have loads of fun playing the games. My 2 and 3yo love doing the balance games, tight roping, hula hooping, ski jumping. Plus we also have wii family ski which uses the board and my 3yo loves it and is really good at it.

The wii fit said that my 2.5yo dd was almost overweight and she is under the 2nd centile so you can't take any notice of that. She is no heavier than many 10mo!!

cheesesarnie · 09/01/2009 21:43

take her for a play in the park instead.
i was asked by a 8 year old last month how much i weigh.she wanted to compare sizes.

MrsWeasley · 09/01/2009 23:05

It told my DD2 that she was overweight too. She is the tallest in her year. She is definately not overweight, luckily she accepted that its just a silly toy.

Now my other DD1 (13yo) is always saying she is fat. She skips meals etc it told her she was ideal and she hasnt said she is fat since!

I told DD2 that they pick every forth person to be the overweight one in the same was as with Wii sport the machine desides which games you are good at. (this is our theory after I played baseball and miss hit every ball, I made up another Mii Wii and I hit 9 home runs , Played it again under original name coudln't hit the ball! )

scienceteacher · 09/01/2009 23:13

My 15yo and 17yo boys came out spot on for their ages on Wii Fit. My girls 6, 9, 11 all came in underweight.

They are all very normal looking.

When we did the data entry, we just estimated their heights. Perhaps you could had a few cm to your DD's height? She probably wouldn't notice if you did it when she wasn't there.

I told my DDs that I did not want them checking their fitness/BMI when I wasn't there. They can do the training as much as they want, but not hte fitness.

It gave me a horrendous score

BrownSuga · 10/01/2009 22:40

As an aside, but related, I walked past a toy store today and they were selling for 3y+, wait for it.....

A mini treadmill and a mini cross jogging machine thingy.

Madness!

Heated · 10/01/2009 23:02

I'm a lazy toad and do no exercise, wii fit tells me I am the right BMI - I'm not, I'm a stone heavier than I should be but am quite light framed in relation to my height, someting the Wii can't take into account. Dh is physically fit but he is built like a rubgy player = borderline obese according to the laws of Wii.

Anyway, it's all immaterial since yesterday dd 'fed' the Wii some money.

Quattrocento · 10/01/2009 23:06

I think the Wii Fit is not good for children. Poor DS is a bit stocky despite (or maybe because of) playing sport every day but no-one would describe him as obese other than that sodding machine. It is now in the loft.

twinmumma · 11/01/2009 19:31

totally agree that the BMI thing for children should not be happening....
BUT - think that some of the games on there are GREAT for children.
My 3 year old twins (almost 4) play the ski jump and hula hooping (not v succesfully yet!) and ski slalom, and have great fun with it.
They DEFINITELY still go to the park and rollerskate and use bikes/scooters etc... but on a rainy day - or after breakfast whilst still in PJs, its a fun thing to play on.
Ignore the BMI and weight thing
Tell your daughter that I am a dance teacher and aged 34 and it calculated me on the top end of ideal, almost overweight... and put my wii fit age at 46!!!
It's all guess work and not scientific regarding the wii fit age.
Very very sad that she is feeling like this.

I hope that you work things out.

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