How to handle Halloween candy craziness

Halloween is a tricky annual celebration for health-conscious parents.  Since getting candy is the focus and there is no “health food” category for this treat, the thought of candy overload makes Halloween can be an especially scary day. It’s one thing to decide what costume they will dress up in but then there is the dilemma of how much candy do you let your kids eat. Do you set limits or do you let them indulge?  You want your child to have fun trick-or-treating but without going overboard on gorging themselves into a sugar-overload frenzy.

This is where “know thy child” is important.  You know your child best and using your best judgement given what you know about your child’s personality and eating habits can guide you to make the right decisions.

Some kids can be very good at self-limiting their intake of candy to just a couple of pieces at a time making it easy to trust them on deciding how much they eat. But if your child tends to overdo it, consider setting limits.

Tips on keeping candy consumption at a bare bones minimum

·      Before kids go trick-or-treating on their night of adventure, feed them a light meal or snack.  This will help squelch any tummy rumblings tempting them to eat candy during their haul. 

·      Consider being somewhat lenient and within reason about candy on Halloween by encouraging kids to be mindful of the amount of candy and snacks eaten and to stop before they feel full or sick.

·      Know how much candy your child has and store it somewhere other than their bedroom. Having it so handy can be an irresistible temptation for many kids.

·      Try to apportion treats for the days following Halloween.

·      The day after Halloween, set limits for kids on how much candy they get.  It can be set for example, no more than 3 pieces of candy after school each night. This puts the brakes on overindulging on any given day.

·      Be a role model by eating Halloween candy in moderation yourself.  To help avoid temptation, buy your candy at the last minute and get rid of any leftovers.

·      Keep candy out of sight and in an inconvenient location to get to it. 

·      Promote a healthy Halloween in your neighborhood by handing out alternatives to candy. Consider non-food treat items such as stickers, erasers, small bulk toys, pencils, fake false teeth, or little bottles of bubbles and small games.

·      Another idea is to hand out lower calorie/sugar/fat foods.  Certain foods come in smaller calorie controlled portion sizes such as popcorn, fruit snacks, graham crackers, Goldfish crackers, or pretzels. 

·      Buy only enough candy for trick-or-treaters. If you have leftovers, give them away so as not to be tempted to indulge.   

·      On the days before or on the night of Halloween, there are always healthier foods to choose from than candy.  Try roasted pumpkin seeds, apple slices with a healthy fruit dip, popcorn, whole wheat crackers with hummus, just to name a few.  Also check out this website for more healthy Halloween treats.

It’s okay to treat yourself and your kids to a little bit of candy every now and then but keep the emphasis on small portion sizes.  This can make Halloween a little less scary in the candy department while putting the focus on the sweet fun of dressing up in costume.