How to Handle the Halloween Candy Rush
Giving a bite-size candy
When you open your front door on Halloween night, it may not be the gruesome outfits that will scare you; it will more likely be the size of the kids that come trick or treating. These will be kids with a lot of bulge asking for fudge.
Nearly 30 percent of children in the United States, ages 2 to 19, are technically obese or overweight. That’s nearly 1 of 3 children. And parents are spending more for Halloween candy treats. According to the National Retail Federation, the average amount has risen to $20.39 per person.
All that candy can wreak havoc on your children’s health, not to mention their teeth. What can you do to control the temptation to indulge?
A one-night binge on candy is not likely to make children fat, but the trouble is the kids will probably get enough candy to last them a week or more. Making sure that the kid goblins do not gobble up too much sugar is the big challenge to parents’ imagination on Halloween.
Some tips:
* Wait until the last possible moment to buy candy. Buying them too early is likely to tempt the kids (and adults) to start eating them up early.
* Start cutting excess sugar from their diet several days before the holiday. This will help offset the sugar rush that’s about to come.
* Give the bite-size candies rather than full-size candy bars. Pick chocolate squares, especially those with a minimum cocoa content of 60 percent, with natural ingredients like genuine cocoa butter. Try dried fruits or packaged fruits in plastic bowls.
* Give the children a healthy dinner loaded with plenty of protein before they go trick or treating. If their tummies are full, their appetite for candy will be lessened.
* Tell the kids to walk. Walking to all they houses they visit will burn calories. If you wish, you can make a rule that before eating Halloween candy they should perform some form of exercise.
* For safety reasons, inspect the sweet goodies the kids bring home. Make this a teaching moment for them to learn about nutrition. Eliminate chocolate pieces with hydrogenated oil (trans fat) and candies with high-fructose corn syrup. Discard sticky candies like caramels because they tend to stay longer in the mouth and do the most damage to teeth.
* Take charge of storing the candy. Don’t allow the kids to keep the candy in their bedrooms where they can eat it as they please. Space out their consumption by putting a treat or two in a paper bag which they can bring to school each day. Make it last for many weeks.
* Encourage the kids to share their stash with other members of the family. This reduces the amount of candy they eat. They can also donate extra candy to a food bank.
* Trade the excess candy for a toy they like or for a special activity they enjoy.
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Manohar Ray
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01/04/09 04:27:09
John van der Willigen
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01/03/09 06:49:08
Peter Yoo
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12/21/08 04:32:35
Sheila
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12/21/08 04:23:32
John van der WIlligen
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11/24/08 10:41:17
Comments (2 posted):
The National Retail Federation recently released its 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. It said U.S. consumers plan to increase holiday spending by only 1.9% — the smallest increment since the surveys began in 2002.
It states its information in terms of per person. The survey asks respondents about their planned spending. The answers are then collated and expressed in terms of per person (or per shopper).
Among the other items of planned spending: $51.43 on decorations, $32.43 on greeting cards and postage, $95.04 on candy and food (total for the category, although $20.39 will go to candy), and $22.61 on flowers. These are all expressed as "per person" or "per shopper."
Since the shopper is the paying customer at a store, this would roughly correspond to per household (assuming only one person does the shopping for each household).
Happy Halloween!
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