Published on October 18, 2010
Ghosts, Goblins & Goodies: Keeping Them All Healthy
Dean Clinic Dietitians Have Information to Help You Make Good Decisions Halloween Night and Beyond
Halloween can be great fun, but it can present challenges for parents trying to maintain healthy eating habits at home. Certainly, one night of trick-or-treating does not mean a child will become overweight or that any parent is a bad parent, but here are a few simple suggestions to help you get through Halloween in a healthier fashion.
Have a plan
Feed your children a nutritious dinner. A group of hungry, dehydrated, sugar-intoxicated goblins is a frightening picture for any parent! Plan dinner ahead of time with help from your children. Let them know that you will eat early on Halloween night, so they will have all the energy they need for a successful Trick-or-Treat night. Make sure they drink enough fluid. Children can get overheated in Halloween costumes, especially when they are running from house to house.
Set limits in advance
Ask your children to help you decide on the route you will take, how many doors you will knock on and what hour they will turn back into “pumpkins.” Having an end goal will help you avoid the “just one more” or “but we have not gone to…” meltdown that persists all the way home.
Agree on a candy consumption limit
Agree on how much candy your children are allowed to eat on Trick-or-Treat night and each day thereafter. You may want to make a similar confidential agreement with yourself. Note: “unlimited access” or “until the chocolate is gone” is not a good plan. Store the candy out of sight to make it easier to stay with the plan.
Provide healthy snacks as alternatives
Keep healthy between-meal snacks in view and accessible. A bowl full of juicy red apples, bananas, or seasonal fruit is a better centerpiece than Skittles®, M&M’s® and Tootsie Rolls®. Assign a kids’ shelf in your refrigerator and fill it with low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese cut in interesting shapes and fresh cut vegetables.
Watch what you buy
Try some new treats to hand out on Halloween night: peanut butter and cracker packs, sugar-free gum, raisin boxes, fruit snacks, granola bars or small bags of pretzels. Non-food treats like Halloween stickers or pencils, small boxes of crayons, bubbles or Play Doh® can be fun. Buy candy at the last minute to reduce temptation to eat treats ahead of time.
Teach and model moderation
Do not give candy more status than it deserves. In some instances, the more something is forbidden or overly restricted, the more desirable it becomes. Teach and model moderation. All foods can fit, if we are reasonable about the amount and frequency.
Do not attach emotions to candy
Try not to use candy to reward, bribe, punish or convey love. By attaching emotions to certain foods, you may inadvertently set the stage for disordered eating in the future, including undereating, anorexia, overeating or obesity.
Begin some new family rituals
Do not make the holiday all about the candy. Make it a time to begin new family rituals such as stuffing a scarecrow full of leaves for the front porch. Carve pumpkins and roast the seeds. Hold an annual scavenger hunt for fall items such as acorns, pinecones, wooly caterpillars, animal tracks and colorful leaves. Begin a new photo album that holds pictures of Halloween celebrations, past and present.
