Kids card game EdStat back on to clear food 'confusion'

Some of the world’s biggest food and drink companies are in talks with a Yorkshire school headmaster once again after its educational cardgame, developed to help cut childhood obesity, was given the all-clear.

Based on the card game Top Trumps, EdStat aims to educate children on the nutritional value of leading food and drink brands, and metrics to ‘trump’ players with include traffic light labels, percentage guideline daily amounts (GDAs) and total calories.

The game was developed in 2007 by pupils at Woodleigh School in Yorkshire and headmaster Mike England. Food Specifications came on board to bring the game online.

After featuring in The Grocer, it won backing from food and drink suppliers including Mars and Kellogg’s. And England was in talks with Tesco about distributing the game to as many as 25,000 schools when, in December 2007, the government launched an inquiry into brands’ influence in schools and the project was stopped. Now, following a change in Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) rules, the idea has been revived.

England said he was in talks with one of the world’s biggest cereal makers and another global food group.

“There’s a lot of interest,” he said. “There’s been a government decree that we must be given better information about what we eat, but who actually bothers to look at it? The government’s frankly dry approach turns kids off.”

The first food and drink companies to sign up to the revised scheme include cereal company Rude Health and baker The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys. Camilla Barnard, co-founder of cereal maker Rude Health, said the scheme would bring transparency to healthy eating schemes.

“There is total confusion thanks to a bombardment of messages,” she said. “Educating through a card game is a brilliant idea.”

“These kids are ultimately our end users,” added Gary Frank, co-founder of The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys. “This card game helps teach that everything in moderation is OK.”