Photo by James Cook
Have you heard about any of the new studies out lately showing the deleterious effects of sugar on our bodies? They are seriously chilling. Sugar has been linked to heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and even cancer. Whoa.
Here’s an article in the New York Times called “Is Sugar Toxic?”
And this article from Time magazine “Too Much Sugar Increases Heart Risks” is also informative.
Not to mention the problems with sugar and teeth, if nothing else we are sure that sugar causes cavities and according to LA Dental Town dental health has profound impacts on your health overall as well. So with all this new information about the negative effects of sugar on our bodies, I’ve been strategizing about how we can have a fun and healthy Halloween, WITHOUT binging on sugar.
When I was a kid I loved trick or treating, but there were all those scares about razors in baked goods and whatnot and the recommendation was not to eat anything that wasn’t in it’s sealed individual package. Then again, I have some vivid memories of bobbing for apples and having Halloween parades at school, so maybe this holiday doesn’t actually have to be centered around snack sized sugar bombs.
As I was pondering what to do about Halloween and how to keep our celebrations healthy, Julia asked to have a party. “That’s it!” I thought to myself. The perfect way to keep sugar out of our Halloween celebrations is to provide healthy alternatives and our very own Halloween party.
We can dress up in costumes, carve or paint pumpkins, roast pumpkin seeds, bob for apples, listen to creepy music, make our own masks, and serve savory delights with a Halloween theme. “Pumpkin Soup” by Helen Cooper has been a popular book at our house lately, so perhaps we’ll make some!
OK, the truth is, this party won’t be happening this year, but I’m excited about hosting it next year for all the families we love and who are also conscious of healthy living. For this year we can definitely avoid trick-or-treating, since Julia doesn’t know what it is yet.
But for those of you whose children already know about and are looking forward to trick-or-treating this year, you might want to try participating in a dentist office candy buyback. Here in Bend, OR there are some dentists that will pay kids $1 per pound of Halloween candy that they then send to troops overseas.
I’m not sure how I feel about passing the health detriments of candy on to our service men and women abroad, but I’m guessing they will at least enjoy the treats. And any amount of pleasure we can offer them is so little in exchange for the services they provide.
Alternatively, my friend has struck a deal with her son that he may choose 5 pieces of candy to keep and eat and if he hands over the rest, she will buy him a toy in exchange. Apparently her son didn’t go for it last year, but this year he’s ready to trade in his candy for Legos! Sounds like a win-win to me!
I’m curious, how do you handle Halloween at your house? Do your kids participate in trick-or-treating? Is it horribly mean of me to try to shelter my daughter from it for as long as possible? Am I making a big deal out of nothing, or do you agree that sugar consumption is something we should be taking a good hard look at in ourselves AND in our children?
I always love it when you share your thoughts, so please leave a comment.
And have a Happy Halloween!
Warm hugs, Shelly
I really like Ellyn Satter and her data driven feeding philosophy, The Division of Responsibility. This is her take on Halloween that we follow in our house. http://www.ellynsatter.com/october-22-2008-family-meals-focus-30-the-sticky-topic-of-halloween-candy-i-129.html
@Kristinmh Huh, that’s really interesting. Thanks so much for sharing this!
I personally don’t care for the whole idea behind Halloween. My kids love to dress up and see others costumes as well, and I know for my high school aged girls it’s a social event. I have on daughter who as soon as she turned 12 quit trick or treating because she never ate the candy, and one who would eat a bunch the first night, and then she was done with it. I have always been very strict about soda and junk food. It has no nutritional value so what is it’s useful purpose? I grew up without it, and still to this day very seldom eat or drink it. My 2.5 year old son has never tasted soda and has has rarely had candy. Of course, he likes to collect it at parades like the other kids, but that seems to make him happy, he doesn’t focus on the candy, just the gathering. There are much healthier things in life I would rather he enjoy then junk food.
@deemarie I hear you! Especially the part about “no nutritional value.” I can see no useful purpose either. I ate an incredibly sweet and delicious sweet potato for lunch. My daughter and I can still eat “sweets” without giving up nutritional value!
Until my oldest was about 2 yo, she didn’t know much about treats either. For my youngest it’s another story because she has an oldest sister that eat treats now. I like the idea of not forbidding treats, but explaining that too much isn’t good and can make you sick ( what’s must difficult is having family support you, my family contradict my saying and say that candy won’t make you sick!). Last year, after a couple of days, i would put away the candies (out of sight, out of mind) and then put they in the garbage a little at a time, until it was completely forgotten (we had to throw away the ones from last year on halloween). We did exchange some with the dentist, they got surprises, not money (at 4yo and 2yo, surprises are more appealing). And the next step, i’m going to ask if they want to exchange candy for surprises given by the tooth fairy. and then put away the rest. Also, this year, the children treat or treating at our house, had the choice between a surprise or a bag of little cookies. Half of them choose the surprise. Sometimes, they would take both, some only took the cookies. My girls also received some surprises instead of candies.
@julievalie I think a surprise gift is far more fun than a bunch of candy, but I’m not so sure I felt that way when I was younger! 🙂 Maybe we can change the culture of Halloween to make it more about costumes, generosity of neighbors, and spooky fun and less about sugar consumption…
Another idea, I bought cookie cutter in shape of ghost, bat and pumpkin. Instead of cookies (put i can make healthy cookies too) I cut pieces of bread for their toast in the morning. With a little bit of imagination, there are plenty of alternatives to celebrate halloween.
@julievalie Great idea! I will definitely try that 🙂
I can totally understand wanting to shelter your daughter from it. I tried for a while. Now that he’s 3, he knows what candy is because we have family and friends that provide it at every gathering. And unless I hover over him the whole time, it’s really hard to keep him from ever trying any, especially while all the other kids are eating it. So I have decided to use Halloween as a learning opportunity. We go trick-or-treating with friends because he really enjoys it. Then when we bring the candy home, we talk about the lack of nutritional value and how moderation is important. I’m hoping that by teaching him WHY I don’t want him to eat so much and how to enjoy it moderately, he will grow up not feeling deprived, and not obsessing over it. After a couple days of enjoyment, the rest goes in the trash. With that said, I’m sure there will come a time that he just won’t take no for an answer and will want to really know if what I tell him about too much making us sick is true. When that time comes, I may (or may not, we’ll see) let him binge once to see the after effects. After all, sometimes kids need to learn their own lessons. But I also want to incorporate healthy treats into Halloween next year (serious lack of planning this year-didn’t buy a pumpkin until Halloween day. LOL)
@HeatherMontoya Thanks for sharing this Heather! I agree that Halloween can be a great learning opportunity. And that children need to learn to moderate themselves. I guess I’m just hoping we can offer opportunities for learning without starting any life-long bad habits! It’s always great to hear from you and I’m glad you had a happy Halloween. Hugs!
@AwakeShelly @HeatherMontoya
I’m sure they are going to have time to acquire good eating habits. They’re learning to trust you as a parent because you are truthful and respecful.