Firstly, BMI is rather useless for anyone in even mildly good shape (not just athletes). Worth clearing that misconception up. Also says very little about health in general, which is a bigger problem but people tend to be worried about weight than health so they'll probably ignore that.

Secondly, the fact that it tells kids they are overweight is going to bite Nintendo on the arse big time. God help them if a young girl develops anorexia or commits suicide where Wii Fit can be tied to the incident.

The question will not be whether a significant number will give up and stuck it in a closet because I can assure you that they will. The question will be whether the rate is any higher than it is for gym attendance, sticking to a diet, using your Bowflex, or staying with Jenny Craig. All fitness and weight loss programs have a high failure rate. They just provide a tool but you always have to provide the will.

And yes Captain Obviously Fit, I have heard rumors that a well balanced diet and regular exercise is the best way. I am glad that you are able to do so without any extra tools or encouragement. Regrettably, not everyone is so blessed with your resolve. Most people don't try to become overweight, or aspire to being unfit; they just aren't successful at preventing it or reversing it. Some people have such a hard time finding a way that they resort to the drastic and very expensive option of surgery.

So if some people want to invest the comparatively small sum or $90 on Wii Fit because they feel it may help motivate them and entertain them enough to keep coming back, let them try. Don't be quite so quick to judge their methods but applaud that they are making the effort at all.

I hate to tell you but the medical profession relies very heavily on BMI. I work at a major teaching hospital and I know that for a fact, not opinion.

And yes sadly, because of the publicity and Nintendo's deep pockets, I am sure they will get sued because we are a litigation happy society who see things that ought to be our personal responsibility as an opportunity to make big bucks. But the truth is anorexia does not come from outside input so much as it does from the person's own distorted body image and they will see themselves as fat no matter what Wii Fit, their parents, their peers, their doctor or their mirror tells them. If they are anorexic don't worry, because their BMI will be so low that it isn't likely to convince the program that they are fat anyway.

The main point is that there is a clear disclaimer that should prevent this being an issue. People don't always read instructions but they should and parents should be participating as well. It is not like they will only get this message, right or wrong, from mean old Wii Fit. There are plenty of talking scales, public pay scales, scales with BMI charts and tables in every other issue of most women's magazine that will give the same message to anyone with a pair of scales and a tape measure. So if Nintendo get's sued it will have a lot more to do with simple greed than with any crime committed by Wii Fit.

If this is such a major problem, and given the millions of copies already sold, why is it we keep hearing over and over about the same little 10 year old girl. I'd like to believe it's because other parents are responsible enough not to allow a fourth grader to start a fitness program of any kind without carefully reviewing the instructions .... but then I still believe in Santa Claus too.

Yeah just wait until someone dies from using Wii Fit, then people will stop using it.  I mean look at cars, people die in car crashes all the time, blame them for pollution, noise, etc...And most people don't even realize that a car is powered by nothing more than a rapid sequence of explosions.....talk about dangerous!! Good thing people don't use those things anymore...oh wait..yeah they do....

Everything in life has a potential to harm.  Do you own steak knives?  How about a bathtub?  A TV?

At the end of the day if you stab yourself, drown, or get a seizure from a TV whose fault is it?  The people who make those products? 

A lawsuit for someone flipping out about this and killing themselves is going to get laughed out of court because it has literally zero merit.  People can have adverse emotional and psychological reactions to just about anything and everything and there is no way any judge in their right mind is going to set a precident that says when it happens with a commercial product its the manufacturers fault.

Font 2000: cats

the problem is that bmi is intended for averages of large groupes of people only, so for a single person depending on your body type could be way off. (this has probly already been said but im lazy so didnt read all the posts ^^)

I'm not being fooled by anyone, I'm a few months away from my PT license and the general consensus in the fitness industry here is "Do not use BMI". If someone wants me to train them, I measure height, weight and the overall girth and body measures and lastly bodyfat. I see no point in using BMI, and before you say "But those who are not personal trainers!"; using a measure tape and a bodyfat "pincher" (this device is dirt cheap as well) is very simple if you know basic maths and have two fully functional hands and a brain, and it is very precise with a little practise.

 Clearly, Nintendo should've included a displacement tank with Wii Fit for accurately measuring BMI. ;)

I actually agree that BMI is a bad idea for a game that can't take in any other factors. It says I'm obese even when I know I'm not (nowhere near it) but I'm carrying a good deal of muscle.

But the game's method for telling a person their BMI is flawed, and I don't mean the calculation so much as the presentation method: basically, the bar slides into "obese" and your Mii gets really fat all of a sudden. That's the kind of thing that could traumatize young girls.

I still like the exercises, though, and there ARE some muscle building exercises in there as well, such as pushups and jackknives. 

heh my wife who Likes wiifit- hated her being in the overweight category-barely.

after 2 days she was estatic when her mii got skinny again.


after 2 days I've maybe dropped a half a lb...i say that because i am 2.6lbs lighter than i was on monday- and i know my weight fluctuates by a few pounds weekly..


i do know that that doctor hasn't tried it, because if she did, her legs and arms would be feeling the burn like mine do.