Wii Fit BMI Argh

[ailbhe]

We set the kids up on the shiny new Wii Fit today and I was really NOT HAPPY with them measuring the kids' BMI and labelling them "at risk of overweight" and asking them to set weight-loss goals.

I cannot articulate how annoyed I was, in fact.

But the good news is that I didn't articulate how annoyed I was, particularly in front of the children. I ignored it.

I sincerely hope that the children and I gain enough weight in the next 6 months to mess with that blasted calorie-counting pig's head but good.

---

On the other hand, both children find the balance board easier to operate than the remote controls.

Comments

[the-changeling.livejournal.com]

Hugh has gone from DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON OBESE CHILD to "exactly right" in a half inch change in his height.

It does say it's not accurate for children. David's point was they shouldn't have it for kids then.

The Diving Goat weighed her Xmas turkey on hers, when they forget the weight of it for cooking. She registered as a pet!

[ailbhe]

It's not accurate for pregnant women, either!

[biascut.livejournal.com]

When we signed up to the Wii Fit, it told me that I was within the "normal" range for BMI, but 2 points over the "ideal" figure, and would I like to set a weight loss goal. Then it told Glitz that she was within the "normal" range for BMI, but 2 points under the "ideal" figure, and congratulated her.

So yeah, it's all about health, except that we all know that health is scecretly all about weighing as little as possible. It's appalling that they don't have an exclusion on that for kids though - and I'm in awe of your not ranting about it in front of the girls!

[ailbhe]

It didn't congratulate Rob, it warned him against gaining more. He was on the line bordering underweight.

It said I was "ideal" and suggested I set a weight-loss goal of 2 BMI points.

[clanwilliam.livejournal.com]

Rob? *Rob* was warned against gaining weight?

And you were suggested a weightloss goal?

I'd probably get a "does not compute" or a "would the second person please get off the board" on mine.

[ailbhe]

Hey, given that my main health problem this pregnancy is low blood pressure, the Wii is doing me a favour!

[biascut.livejournal.com]

AAAARGH!!

[clanwilliam.livejournal.com]

I have to confess, I cackled at this response.

[allyphoe.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, I hate that. I don't update Alex's height, because otherwise it labels her underweight and complains, and berates her to gain weight. (Alex borders on being <5th percentile, so technically underweight. But she's 10th percentile for kids with her ethnic background, and has been on the same growth curve forever.)

[deborah_c]

This is obviously not a meaning if "ideal" that I've previously come across!

[naath.livejournal.com]

It told rjk 'well done' (for being slightly under 22 on the bmi) then... invited him to set a weight related goal!

Then, I told it I was 6' tall, so I was massively underweight; so it... invited me to set a weight related goal.

Stupid piece of excrement.

(I really want to set a goal of being "fitter" or even one of "getting top score on all the amusing balance games" and it measures a huge range of stuff; why will it only let you have weight related goals?)

As it happens I enjoy the games on it, and "getting more flexible" and "getting fitter" were (and are) both on my To Do list. Getting thinner can sod right off though.

[djm4]

I amuse the kids by telling it to give me a 'gain weight' goal, so that it looks sad if I loose weight (sadly, it will only let me do this in periods of two weeks, for some reason). But yes, it's a good thing the rest of Wii Fit is so good, because that part pisses me right off.

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

But the good news is that I didn't articulate how annoyed I was, particularly in front of the children. I ignored it.

Cunning!

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Oh, yuck, yes. I haven't yet got into Wii Fit with the kids because I'm too antsy about weight, including my own weight, to manage that element. Shame, because they'd love it. So well done you for ignoring it.

[ruthi.livejournal.com]

wow, what a wrong piece of wrong wrongness.

[(Anonymous)]

Right I probably weigh more than pregnant you and the girls put together, so I shall come armed with body fat to enrage the WII. I may even bring salt related snacks to satiate your cravings.

Rachel

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

I've set a goal of "allow no change to weight", which allows me to set the target date one year ahead. (If you set a goal of losing or gaining, you're limited to two weeks, as djm4 says.) If you do that and don't mind missing out on the balance part of the Body Test, you can go for a year without having to deal with the crappy BMI stuff. Alternatively, you can use it to counter with better information, which is the line I mostly take, since we all enjoy the balance tests. I like the rest of the game sufficiently that I'm willing to put up with the annoyance. I will probably eventually get the expansion pack, though, which according to djm4's cousin allows you to set goals that aren't weight-related.

[ailbhe]

You can never be too thin or too enraged I think is their point.

[ailbhe]

I may be being stupid here, but isn't it absolutely necessary that about 5% of children will be at or below about the 5th centile?

Linnea was 99.8th or off the top of the charts, though I dunno where she is now. Nor Emer, who was 25th. But, um, have I totally misunderstood how centiles work?

[ailbhe]

Rob did Emer's one. I couldn't manage both.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

It actually won't even let me play. I'm above the weight limit.

[ailbhe]

What, not just won't let you do the BMI bit, but won't let you use it at all?

...

Wow.

There isn't enough swearing in the world.

Emer is at the lower limit for making it work, weightwise, and needs to really throw herself into the moves to get any result.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

It won't let me use it at all.

You can hack the hardware to fake it so you can use it even if you're over the weight limit -- basically putting foam between the bits it uses to sense weight so it thinks you weight less than you do -- if you really want to play it, but I was ticked enough about that aspect that I didn't want to bother. (It's academic now, as we gave our Wii away over Christmas, but still.)

[allyphoe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and that seems like a stupid way to define underweightness to me, too. FWIW, her pediatrician has never batted an eye about her weight, although she's normally about 50th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight, so it's only the BMI chart (which her ped doesn't calculate) that makes her fall off the bottom.

Sharing your argh..

[haggis.livejournal.com]

I told it I was 8 feet tall and it told me my BMI (of 16) was excellent. It's bollocks and wrong and I ignore it because I like the excercise bit.

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, it's asking us why our cat hasn't worked out lately ;-)

Ailbhe, could one avoid having the kids see the BMI stuff in the future by just not having them do the body test, and skipping to training?

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

It's not accurate for ANYBODY.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

It can only nag you about your weight if you tell it the truth about your height. There's nothing stopping you from telling it you're six feet tall.

[ailbhe]

Linnea got into it by accident the other day, she's the only one of us who has done the body test more than the mandatory once - and it said she had lost three pounds and that that wasn't enough. I believe I sore at it.

It also told me, one day, not to have afternoon snacks. I know I swore at it that time.

[ailbhe]

Of course, this is also true. But if they were cunning they'd have made allowances, to make it look like they knew what they were talking about.

Still, cycling off cliffs is good...