Trick or “Treat” & Halloween Nutrition Education
For those you know me, or have read some of my thoughts in sugar, it is no secret that I am not Halloween’s biggest fan. I question how Halloween has come to be about the quest for as much junk food as one can gather and then eat it. I wonder if our children know about All Hallow’s Eve or Samhain? That said, I can appreciate that it is part of our culture and do allow my children to take part in Trick-or-Treating. We use this day to talk about sugar, food choices and moderation. This is my attempt to put a positive spin on this over sugared, over commercialized day.
Sugar
Children consume excess amounts of sugar. Soft drinks, fruit juices, breakfast cereals, gummy fruit snacks and flavoured milks are just some food culprits that many children eat daily. Some might argue that sugar is not directly related to health issues in children but these foods offer limited nutrients and displace other nutrient dense foods. Talk to your children about sugar and diet-related diseases and conditions, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer.
On the eve of Halloween sit down and read the candy labels with your children. Sort the candy into piles based on the type of added sugar they contain. The list below might be helpful in identifying sugar. Sugar is sugar, so I will not recommend that one sugar is ‘better’ than the other. The main objective of the sorting exercise is to get familiar with food labeling language and make your children aware that sugar is marketed under many different names. However, I will point out that the World Health Organization recommends that you limit your intake of added sugars to no more than 10% of your daily caloric intake.
Other Names for Sugar (source)
- Barley malt
- Beet sugar
- Brown sugar
- Buttered syrup
- Cane juice crystals
- Cane sugar
- Caramel
- Corn syrup
- Corn syrup solids
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Carob syrup
- Castor sugar
- Date sugar
- Demerara sugar
- Dextran
- Dextrose
- Diastatic malt
- Diatase
- Ethyl maltol
- Fructose
- Fruit juice
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Galactose
- Glucose
- Glucose solids
- Golden sugar
- Golden syrup
- Grape sugar
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Icing sugar
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Maltodextrin
- Maltose
- Malt syrup
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Muscovado sugar
- Panocha
- Raw sugar
- Refiner’s syrup
- Rice syrup
- Sorbitol
- Sorghum syrup
- Sucrose
- Sugar
- Treacle
- Turbinado sugar
- Yellow sugar
Artificial Sweeteners
- Saccharin — Sweet ‘N Low
- Stevia — Truvia
- Acesulfame Potassium — Sweet One
- Aspartame — Equal
- Sucralose — Splenda
- Neotame
- Sugar alcohols — sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol
Food Choices
Halloween is a great day to talk about food choices. For example, ask your children what foods/nutrients provide their body’s with nutrients for energy, to grow, to build bones, and to see. Does the Halloween candy contain these foods or nutrients? In our house, we always eat nourishing foods first then indulge in less nutritious foods. We like to follow the 80/20 rule.
Eat clean, whole foods 80 percent of the time and allow yourself to indulge 20 percent of the time.
For younger children a ‘this’ first before ‘that’ is a simpler way to encourage nutrient dense foods first. For older children, helping them make food and mood correlations can be useful in them understanding how food choices affect health and wellness.
On Halloween day, I ask my children to choose dinner. This is a great way to ensure that they eat a nutritious supper, to fullness, before they go out Trick or Treating.
Moderation
Instead of depriving them of participating in Trick or Treating, we use Halloween to explore the art of moderation. We ask our children to devise a candy plan. How much is a reasonable amount to eat? Daily? When? For how many days after Halloween? Help them make a plan that is best for your family.
What do we hand out for Halloween ‘treats’?
Remember the days of homemade popcorn balls? I would enjoy nothing more than whipping up some deliciously wholesome granola bars to distribute to our neighbourhood kids. I love showing people that healthy alternatives can taste great. But I had to stop and ask myself, would I let my child eat a homemade treat from someone I do not know. And my answer is no. So there will be no Halloween baking happening here. Instead I will round up some Halloween ‘treat’ alternatives.
Edible Alternatives
- raisins
- dark chocolate
- cheese strings
- pretzels
- carrots
- apple slices
- sugarless gum
- ‘natural’ candy (still contains sugar but free of other chemicals)
Non-Edible Alternatives
- playdoh
- crayons
- bubbles
- stickers
- temporary tattoos
- note books
- pencils
- small toys
- toothbrushes
- Swim or Skate tickets ( a bit expensive at $1 per ticket)
- Free video game (US residents only)
Our trick or treat bowl with contain pencils, notebooks and dark chocolate squares.
I am happy to report the pencils were a huge hit last year!
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Hi Jayda!
This year for Halloween I put out various toys. They seemed to be a hit and were the only non-edible thing around. The vampire teeth were especially liked by the older kids too! The witches fingers (plastic witch- looking finger to put upon your own) would have been loved as well, but we ended up using them all for our costumes.
We also had little frisbees, bubbles and cool spiders. Not a thing was left when we arrived home from trick or treating! I grappled with the ethics of bringing cheap little plastic toys into the environment or adding to the obesity epidemic, and just had to rule the obesity epidemic a more important factor to which I’d rather not contribute.
I’m pleased to say that teaching my children about healthy eating and decisions, although allowing for occasional treats after a nutritious meal, is helping them understand why the choices we make are important. We have talked about it being ok to have some candy every now and then, but that it not wise to eat often. I’m pleased to say I have the children who got excited for the houses that provided pretzels, chips or apples! Better than the other stuff, (but maybe because they don’t know what most of it is! Heehee)! We also talk about the pleasure of participating in trick or treating, but that there is no way we could ever eat all that candy because it wouldn’t be good for our bodies. They have been very accepting of this, even my four year old!
I have been trusting of my children with their Halloween buckets this year and have left it within reach. They ask if it’s ok to have a piece, and after three days, the answer has often been no. They are ok with it. They have enjoyed, however, playing with the candy and sorting it. I think it has actually stopped them from sneaking it. Plus, it has aided math skills!
Thanks for your ideas and thoughts! It’s so nice to know like-minded people are out there (but I wish you were still in PGH)!
Take care.
Sorry, just have to add as well…that Halloween truly is a fun community event, so it is neat to remind the kids about this, versus simply getting candy. After living overseas and not participating in Halloween for over 12 years, I must admit it is a buzz getting out into the neighborhood and seeing how much people enjoy it. I’ve met a few more of the neighbors thanks to the occasion!
Anyways…just another point to add to the teachable moments behind Halloween.