That's Fit

Find a way to incorporate fitness into your hobbies.

Wii Fit has been selling in Britain for a few weeks and the game's candidness has caused a bit of a stir. After a ten-year-old British girl stepped on the game's electronic balance board and entered her height, Wii labeled her 'overweight.' She was reportedly devastated.

The girl is 4 ft. 9 in. tall and weighs six stone, 8 pounds -- that's 92 pounds to an American. I logged in this height, weight, and the age of exactly ten years old into a BMI Calculator for Children and Teens and it calculated a BMI of 19.9, placing BMI-for-age in the 84th percentile, at the very top level of 'a healthy weight' for girls this age. Adding a pound (93 pounds) sends the calculation into the 'at risk for being overweight' zone.

Obesity experts are outraged -- they are concerned Wi Fit could damage children's body image and are calling for a warning to parents. One expert stated BMI should not be used with children since a child's BMI can change month-to-month and it's possible a child can be both stocky and very fit. A Nintendo spokesman apologized to any customers offended by the game's terminology and stated Wii Fit is capable of measuring BMI for people aged two and 20, but acknowledged resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger kids due to varying levels of development.

Yes, there are real criticisms of utilizing BMI to measure obesity in children. But what bothers me the most about this story is the young girl's devastation. Girls and women are under tremendous societal pressure to be thin.

Bethany recently gave us a heads up on the soon-to-be-released Wii Fit. Already hot in Japan, the game has been swiped up by 1.76 million Japanese and crowned their top-selling game of the year.

What makes Wii Fit special is an electronic balance board capable of monitoring movement and weight. A bit of a cyber-personal trainer, Wii Fit will help determine your Body Mass Index (the balance board records your weight, you add in your height and age), and initially test/grade your balancing skills. Wii Fit will also provide visual and verbal kudos and criticism, spitting out graphs and charts to reveal your progress over time.

Here are a few Wii Fit games that interest me:

• Wii Hula: A strenuous game where you catch hula hoops on your arms and then try to keep them spinning on your hips. This is my one chance to hula hoop, I've never been able to gyrate the hips properly to keep the hula above ground!
• Wii Yoga: Anything to get Americans in a Sun Salutation is alright by me. If more couples spent time deep breathing followed by a triangle pose, I bet this country would have a lower divorce rate.
• Strength Training and Balance Games Galore: Planks, jackknives, row squats and tightrope walking are better than popcorn and a movie any day.

My neighbors love their Wii. Another family just extended an invitation for a little Wii boxing this weekend. Will Americans embrace this next generation Wii like the Japanese? I bet Wii will.

Looking for ways to motivate your kids to exercise this winter? The ever-popular Nintendo Wii will soon release Wii Fit. Just like Wii games are played on your feet, simulating the movements you'd use in a real sport, Wii Fit aims to get players hearts racing.

The program records your height and weight and gives each participant their BMI. Then it takes players through different physical activities, including skiing, hula hooping, balancing, push-ups, etc. Players can get immediate feedback from their Wii personal trainer and keep track of their progress.

Just like the Wii, Wii Fit isn't exactly like a real workout. But it is physical and for reluctant exercisers it may just bring enough novelty to the workout to make it fun.

There are several video games out there that involve actual human movement in order to activate the players who appear on the screen. Nintendo's Wii system is a gaming phenomenon, especially with its tennis and golf games (both requiring the player to hold onto the joystick controller and swing it like a real racket or golf club). Video games are becoming virtual sports, making this once sedentary activity a bit more physical. In fact, researchers from West Virginia University not that long ago found that one video game in particular is actually helping kids improve their heart health and fitness levels.

The game is called "Dance Dance Revolution," and yes, if you've ever stepped foot inside a Dave & Buster's (basically, it's a Chuck 'e Cheese's for adults, with wall-to-wall video games and cocktail-serving barmaids), this is the game where people bounce around a light-up dance floor and make utter fools of themselves. Fortunately, there's a home version, so you can still reap the calorie-burning and heart-pumping benefits of dancing around like a crazy person, only you can save yourself the public embarrassment. More or less, it's the perfect thing for self-conscious kids who may want to lose weight, but aren't really comfortable enough to exercise with friends (or for the adult who simply wants a new, fun way to exercise).

So much for video games being easy. Thanks to Nintendo's Wii Fit, you can turn your living room into a virtual gym.

Wii Fit can calculate your body mass index (BMI) and then provide you with a customized workout plan to help you achieve what it also calculates to be your ideal BMI. Using a pressure-sensitive balance board, Wii Fit allows you to enjoy over forty types of physical fitness based games. From ski jumping to yoga, the Wii Fit makes a home workout, dare I say, fun.

But, you'll at least have to wait until after this holiday season to find the Wii Fit, as it will not be hitting stores until 2008. Until then, maybe you can play some of the current Wii games that are available. Research from a UK study revealed that playing active games on the Wii for thirty minutes a day can improve cardiovascular health and help a person lose up to 27 pounds over the course of a year.

News about Nintendo's WiiFit has got us all excited here over at that's fit, and I wanted to mention something about their accessory, the Balance Board. It's a controller that's shaped like your bathroom scale. It works by detecting your motion when you stand on it, and you can use it to do yoga and other workouts, including dance and hula hooping. You can also use it to track your weight. Actually, maybe you should watch the video on Fitsugar -- it's much better at explaining it than I could.

I'm so excited to see video games the have managed to integrate physical activity. How about you?