Finding a balance between letting your kids have fun, and overindulgence is crucial.  Treating the Halloween holiday as a fun time to enjoy something special, extra candy included, is good as long as there are limits.

·       Eat before trick or treating: Make sure your kids don’t skip lunch or dinner to save up their appetite and calories for candy. The only way to keep kids from over indulging and going crazy on a sugar high is to feed them a balanced meal before they go trick-or-treating.  A healthy, hearty meal that is high in both fiber and protein is essential.  This will curb the amount of candy they want to eat while out, or sneak later on.

·       Set limits: Put a limit on the amount of candy your kids are allowed to indulge in this Halloween.  Do this before Halloween even starts, so that your kids are aware that even if they fill their pillowcases to the brim with candy from trick-or-treating, the amount they can eat is limited. You want them to enjoy the holiday, but not overindulge in the sweet stuff.  Giving kids a limit to the amount of candy you can have can help you stick to a healthier candy regiment.  The truth is, only a small amount of candy is required to satisfy a sweet tooth.

·       Make Halloween about more than candy:  Sometimes, all you need to do is change the focus of Halloween to activities, rather than candy.  There are so many fun things to do this time of year, from pumpkin carving, to haunted houses, to hayrides – your kids are sure to find something to do other than eat candy.  Dressing up is also lots of fun, and the emphasis on the holiday should be put there.

·       Keep candy out of sight: Bringing home candy is a child’s equivalent of a pirate bringing home gold.  They are going to want to keep it near them and around all the time.  The further away it is hidden the less they will remember how much is there or that it even exists at all.  It also forces kids to ask for candy instead of just eating it whenever they want.