The Wii fit is a great product. There are two things, however. One is that given the wackiness of the Wii age (mine varies from -25 to +10 of my chronological age) It would have been better to have an independent vertical scale adjustment for the plot of that value.

The other is that while BMI is a good indicator of health and the ratio of weight to height is a good indicator of BMI for large groups, it is of very little value for individuals. More than that, some sub-populations, such as the Irish and African-Americans, tend to carry more muscle mass than the average, meaning that healthy individuals who have low BMIs, often have high weight-to-height ratios. A person who sinks in fresh water does not have a high BMI, no matter what the ratios say.

I find it intriguing that the Wii fit spends a lot of time on the weight-to-height ratio (which it calls the BMI), even though it seems that ratio has very little to do with Wii fit age. I noticed also that it often makes a big deal about a small gain, say 0.5 pounds, then ends up pointing out that such small change can happen due to variations in weight throughout the day. Most of all even though aimed at young kids, it does not remind the user to check height periodically. If a kid has grown a few inches, a weight gain may not be a bad thing.

I think a focus on excess weight can be beneficial. However, what is excess is not always clear, especially when dealing with kids. Also, even if kids are carrying too much fat, I’d much rather encourage them to be more active and eat more healthy foods than suggest that they indiscriminately reduce caloric intake. The Wii Fit is great with the activity level, but not so good on the other things.

But, then again, what do I know?

John Mullen

It’s a pity that it’s been sold out everywhere in England since April 25th though. I’ll just have to wait now.

That would be a great idea if Wii Fit hooked up to a third-party website like Traineo to upload data at the end of every session, but that kinda defeats the purpose of the Wii Fit Channel if online is enabled.

// Roth