Not everyone thinks that the Nintendo Wii and its games are nice and kid-friendly. The National Obesity forum in the UK says that hit release Wii Fit is offensive and threatening to children. They asked Nintendo to do something about it, but the company may not be all too willing to take action. Details in the full article.

Learn to live the life of a professional boxer as you experience all the training exercises and workout sessions in Don King Presents: Prizefighter through the use of the Wii Balance Board. 2K Sports recently announced the integration of the Wii accessory with the game's Wii version. For more details about getting in shape with the upcoming title, read all about it in our full article after the jump.

According to a study conducted by researchers from West Virginia, the game Dance Dance Revolution, has been able to affect children in positive ways. It cuts down the fat in the body and at the same time, it is able to raise their confidence levels. Find out the details of their study in the full article.

Watching TV and video games have been the bane of parents of overweight children. Using a device that restricted video-watching time of children, researchers from the University at Buffalo have been able to find out that they were able to reduce the body-mass index significantly of children. Find out more after the jump!

Scientists usually carry out experiments in carefully-controlled environments to test out their hypotheses. Not so with an experimenter by the name of Vinnk, who is currently testing out the beneficial effects of "playing" Wii Fit in conjunction with a variety of different health practices. More not-so-scientific information follows after the jump.

After confirming the Japanese release date of fitness simulation title Wii Fit on December 1, Nintendo has now provided a set of demonstration videos for the video game. The clips cover all bases - from basic schemes, getting started, as well as some of the more interesting exercise regimens.

While official release dates for the North American and European regions have yet to be confirmed by Nintendo, Wii Fit is expected to arrive in said regions by early 2008. See the demonstration videos after the jump!

Obesity studies have abound nowadays - there was one study that said obesity is in the genes and Konami has recently revealed Dance Dance Revolution's health results and months back, there were some British scientists who claimed to have invented a anti-obesity chewing gum. But now, a study conducted by researchers from London's Imperial College have found out that there might be a lot of thin people who may be fat inside. See, it really is what's on the inside that counts.

Apparently, some doctors now thing that the internal fat surrounding vital organs like our heart, liver, and pancreas may be as dangerous than its more obvious counterparts. According to the researchers, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercising are likely to have major deposits of internal fat even if they have a slim physique.

Dr. Jimmy Bell added that "being thin doesn't automatically mean you're not fat...The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined". This study was funded by the Britain's Medical Research Council and since 1994, the researchers have scanned 800 people with MRI machines to create "fat maps".

So this means that thin people who are fat inside are also more prone to sicknesses like diabetes or other risk factors for heart disease. And if you think that having normal Body Mass Index scores ought to do the trick, well think again. Dr. Bell mentioned that 45% of their study's women-participants with normal BMI scores have excessive levels of internal fat.

So if you're thinking of paying a visit to your friendly-neighborhood plastic surgeon to suck the internal fat away, step away from the door for now. The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned-off through exercise and diet-improvement.

Here's some good news for those who have obesity problems but are afraid to go under the knife. Over at the Cleveland Clinic where a three-day meeting on obesity is being hosted, Dr. Philip Schauer has revealed that soon they just might be able to cut the fat without cutting patients up.

Normally, in order to do such operations, doctors would have to open up the patient to gain access to the organ. But now, they are looking at new technology that will enable them to get into the patient's digestive system by merely inserting a tube through the mouth; hence requiring absolutely no incision at all. This method, known as Natural Orifice Transendoscopic surgery (NOTE), shall make use of long tubes with robotic arms and staple guns snaking down the esophagus.

Supposedly, this is much more safer, and also comes with a lower-cost proportion compared to doing surgeries with incisions. They are also looking into it as a preemptive operation for those patients who are less obese than those currently being considered for surgery. Dr. Schauer also shares that another possibility could be the insertion of a sleeve, or a tube, into the intestines that would interfere with calorie absorption. Or, if the procedure necessitates work in the lower portion of the intestines, the instruments could be inserted through the rectum.

However, all these are still mere possibilities, as they expect technology to be developed for it in about five to 10 years' time. So until this happens, those who need to shape up for their health would just have to brave it out at the operation table. But hey, at least there's something to look forward to, right?

Neurology magazine has recently published a study that links obesity to less brainpower. We've come to believe that eating that tuna sandwich does give us the right amino acids to boost our brain's power, but eating way too many tuna sandwiches apparently isn't really helpful. Blame it all on the BMI.

The seven-year study involved 2,223 salaried French workers aged 32 to 62. Its aim is to find out if there's any connection between the body-mass index (BMI) and the person's mental cognition. Overweight people have BMI of 25 and above.

Apparently, the results showed that thinner people (with lower BMIs) remembered more words in the memory and cognitive tests. Five years later, they still scored better than their flabbier counterparts. Note that the differences such as education level, age, gender and other factors were taken into account to render the results as accurate.

Although the results of the study have proven that fat can affect the brain's cognitive power, it's far more insightful to know that obesity is an all-encompassing issue that affects our entire lifestyle, more than just our physical conditions. The study does prove that "obesity in midlife may have long term consequences for the brain, not just for the heart." Is that news anymore?

Tuna sandwiches are way to good to be passed up, so go ahead and eat. But before it sinks down there and bloat your belly, burn it up on the treadmill. You'll live longer and smarter that way.

Don't hate us because we're skinny! That seems to be the reaction of most model agencies and fashion models when organizers of Madrid's fashion week imposed the world's first ban on sickly thin models at a top-level fashion show.

According to the organizers they want to project an image of beauty and health, not the waif-like, heroin chic look.

Under the Madrid ruling, models must have a BMI rating of around 18. BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a statistical measure of the weight of a person scaled according to height. BMI has become controversial because it has been used for medical diagnosis, which is not the BMI's purpose.

At any rate, the set BMI restriction would disqualify supermodels like Kate Moss from the fashion show. To qualify, models who are 5'9" tall must weigh around 128 lb. In the fashion world, only elephants and hippos are allowed to weigh that much.

Madrid's regional government, which sponsors the show and imposed the restrictions, clarified that it was not blaming designers and models for spreading anorexia and bulimia among teenage girls. But it claimed the fashion industry had a responsibility to portray healthy body images.

Naturally, top modelling agencies where aghast. New York's Elite modeling agency called the ban "outrageous," curtails the freedom of designers and discriminates against naturally "gazelle-like" models.