Parents' anger at keep fit game | |
The parents of a Lincolnshire girl have said she could have ended up with an eating disorder after a computer game encouraged her to lose weight. Nintendo Wii Fit aims to promote health and fitness through active games. The machine told Tabea Paul, 11, from Spalding, she was "overweight" after calculating her BMI when she put in details of her height, age and weight. Maker Nintendo admitted the calculations were based on adults and might not be accurate for all children. According to the NHS BMI calculator, Tabea - who at 6st 11lbs (44kgs) and just under 5ft (1.5m) tall is a normal weight for her height with a BMI of 19.5. But Tabea got a surprise after having a go on her friend's Wii Fit. "I put in my date of birth and my height it calculated my BMI and it said that I was overweight, so I went home and I told my mum," she said. Possible offence Her mother Lisa Scott-King believes the company should set an age limit on who should use the device. "She said that she'd set herself a goal to lose 4lbs within four weeks and I just said, 'No way'. "She doesn't need to lose weight, she's slim and tall and she's got a lot of growing left to do." "It's things like this that would lead to eating disorders," she said. In a statement the company said: "Nintendo would like to apologise to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status. "The resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development." |
