10-year-old 'too fat for Nintendo game'

London: Obesity experts slammed Nintendo after its Wii Fit game told a 10-year-old girl she was fat.

They fear the game could damage children's body image and called on the company to warn parents it is not suitable for their offspring.

The 69pound (Dh494) game, which sold out within hours when it went on sale in Britain last month, uses an electronic "balance board" to monitor a player's weight. Once the player has entered their height, the game uses BMI, a measure of body fat based on an adult's height and weight, to calculate their level of obesity, placing them in categories such as "underweight" and "fat". Players can then be guided through exercises.

However, a father from the South-East spoke of the embarrassment when his stepdaughter played the game and was labelled fat. "She is a perfectly healthy, 4ft 9in tall 10-year-old who swims, dances and weighs only six stone [38kg]," said the father, who did not want to be named for fear of embarrassing the girl further. "She is solidly built but not fat. She was devastated to be called fat and we had to work hard to convince her she isn't."

Nintendo spokesman said: "Nintendo would like to apologise to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status, as part of the BMI measurement system integrated into Wii Fit. Wii Fit is capable of measuring the BMI for people aged between 2 and 20 but the figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development."