According to media reports, games company Nintendo has apologised to a young girl and her family after its latest game Wii Fit branded her as "overweight". This came after the family of 11-year-old Lincolnshire girl Tabea Scott-King found out that she planned to lose weight following the Wii Fit calculating her body mass index (BMI) as overweight.

“I put in my date of birth and my height it calculated my BMI and it said that I was overweight, so I went home and I told my mum,” said Tabea in a BBC report.

Tabea’s mother, Lisa Scott-King, said that: "it’s things like this that would lead to eating disorders." She also said that Wii Fit’s makers should issue a clear age restriction outlining exactly who should be using its health and fitness experience.

Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum , said kids should not be allowed to Wii Fit due to its inaccuracies in measuring BMI.

“BMI is far from perfect but with children it simply should not be used,” he said. “A child’s BMI can change every month and it is perfectly possible for a child to be stocky, yet still very fit. I would be very concerned if children were using this game and I believe it should carry a warning for parents.”

Nintendo moved to issue a statement apologising for making kids a bit worried about their weight (and parents more so!)

The company said that it "would like to apologise to any customers offended by the in-game terminology used to classify a player's current BMI status. The resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups due to varying levels of development."