Boo! Halloween is just around the corner. Every year, I consider candy alternatives to hand out on Halloween: spare change, plastic trinkets, apples—you name it.
Part of me wants to be that person, showing the neighborhood kids that candy isn’t everything. But despite that urge, there’s one reason why you will find a pretty typical bowl of candy when you ring my doorbell.
Hit the sweet spot
In my work with children—and adults—I find time and time again that telling them they can never have a particular food makes them likely to crave and even obsess over it.
I’ve experienced this in my own life, too: Take the summer I worked in a “no soda allowed” office. A former diet-drink addict, I’d sworn off the bubbly stuff a few years back. But weeks into my internship, I found myself leaving the office and making a beeline for the nearest convenience store that stocked Diet Dr. Pepper. It wasn’t pretty. Once I went back to nutrition school (where ironically, there were no restrictions on soda consumption), I never bought diet soda again. When I had the freedom to make my own decision, I simply didn’t want any.
Telling kids that candy is bad and they can’t have any is an invitation for them to sneak some the second you’re not looking. But give them the option to make good decisions, and they very well may surprise you.
Now, I’m not saying I don’t believe in limitations when it comes to food. But this is Halloween we’re talking about. It’s one day a year and, like it or not, it’s all about candy. Kids are hyper-aware of this.
Encourage healthy habits:
Instead of attempting restrictions on Halloween, use the day as an opportunity to set an example. It’s possible to live in a candy-coated world, and not eat so much you get sick to your stomach. Showing your kids, students, neighbors how to create balance when it comes to their diets will help them thrive in the long run.
Here are a few moves you can make this Halloween to do just that:
- Save candy for dessert. It’s tempting to stockpile calories from the day and make dinner a bag of candy corn and then some. Instead, eat a wholesome meal—one that includes veggies, whole grains and protein—with your kids, and choose a candy snack to finish.
- Make your choices count. Don’t eat those Smarties just because they’re there and it’s Halloween. Think ahead about what you want to indulge in. Have a discussion with your kids about their favorite treats and show them how to make conscious choices.
- Save it for later (added bonus: lessons in math and self-control included). Count up the pieces of candy your kids have collected after trick or treating. Determine how many days they could eat candy for if they have two pieces per day. Discuss the benefits of rationing candy to have a little at a time rather than eating it all at once.
Oh, and buy your absolute least favorite candy to give out to trick-or-treaters. They won’t know the difference—but it’ll make it a heck of a lot easier for you to set that good example (anyone ever bought Halloween candy that didn’t actually make it to Halloween? Is that just my house?)
By Rachel Meltzer Warren, MS, RDN
Rachel Meltzer Warren is a NYC-area based nutrition writer, educator and counselor. She has a master’s in nutrition communication from Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is the author of The Smart Girl’s Guide to Going Vegetarian (Sourcebooks 2014).
