This Halloween, let them eat candy without the guilt!
Halloween has become a much-anticipated day in many households, and it seems to grow in popularity every year. For many of us, it’s evolved into a community celebration that brings neighborhoods together, filled with costumes, decorations, and, of course, candy!
My kids love a good trick-or-treat, and it’s a day they look forward to for weeks. But as a parent, I know it comes with one big question: How do we manage all this candy and keep our children’s blood sugar levels in check?
As a paediatric dietitian with over 23 years of experience, here are some strategies I use to help balance Halloween fun with healthy habits, so my kids can enjoy the day without going overboard.
1. Let Them Eat Candy—Without the Guilt
One of the best things we can do for our kids is to let them enjoy their candy without attaching labels like “good” or “bad” to it.
Labelling foods can create a sense of guilt around eating certain things, and we want to avoid a “forbidden fruit” mentality when it comes to sweets.
Try to stay neutral—let Halloween be a time when they get to enjoy candy without judgment. By remaining food-neutral, we’re teaching our children that candy can be part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
2. Encourage Self-Regulation and Mindful Eating
Yes, chances are, your child will overeat candy on Halloween. But this experience can actually be an important lesson in self-regulation. By allowing them to explore and enjoy the experience, they can learn to tune into their own hunger and fullness cues over time.
Kids need space to figure out how much feels like “too much” and to learn that sometimes the sugar high isn’t as fun as they expected…especially if it causes them to have a sore tummy. This approach encourages them to become more mindful eaters and helps them learn to manage their own intake.
3. Fuel Up Before and After Trick-or-Treating
One effective strategy to help curb the sugar rush is to feed kids a filling snack before they head out trick-or-treating. An afternoon tea rich in protein, fibre, and healthy fats—such as whole-grain toast with avocado or a peanut butter sandwich, Greek yogurt with fruit, or a handful of nuts with some apple slices. This will help them feel full and more balanced, so they’re less likely to binge on candy.
After trick-or-treating, I suggest offering a dinner that includes protein, fibre and healthy fats. Foods like Meat and 3 veg or fish and salad will help slow down the sugar absorption and make for a smoother post-candy experience.
4. Prioritize Dental Care
After indulging in sugary treats, it’s extra important to brush and floss well. This helps keep their teeth healthy after all the sticky, sugary fun, setting up good habits for any treat-heavy occasions in the future.
5. Out of Sight, Out of Mind
When the night is over, consider keeping the leftover lolies/candy out of sight. With younger children especially, having the candy out of sight can help them naturally forget about it over the coming weeks. Slowly, you’ll find the excitement fades, and they’re happy to return to more balanced meals and snacks.
Let Halloween Be Fun, Not Forbidden
The key message? Let your children enjoy Halloween. By not over-restricting, we avoid making candy a forbidden obsession. Instead, we show them how treats like candy fit into a healthy lifestyle and halloween becomes less about bingeing on “off-limits” food and more about enjoyment, mindfulness, and balance.
With a little planning and a lot of positive encouragement, Halloween can be fun, educational, and a sweet memory they’ll enjoy without guilt.
So In Summary
🎃Let them eat candy today!
🎃Don’t call it good or bad.
🎃Yes they will probably overeat sugar
🎃Feed them a big afternoon tea
🎃Soon after they have trick or treated, feed them a dinner that is protein and vegetables based also with good fats (extra virgin olive oil, avocado, salmon, nuts) this will help to slow down the blood sugar rush!
🎃Brush and floss teeth very well!
And Remember: As they are shoving another piece of candy in their mouth try to focus on these things:
1. This is day is 0.27% of their year.
2. You possibly did this too
3. Restricting them too much will backfire in the long run
4. Have fun and get back to a more normal healthy way of eating tomorrow!
Happy Halloween !
References:
1. Rollins B Y et al, 2014. Effects of restriction on children’s intake differ by child temperament, food reinforcement, and parent’s chronic use of restriction. Appetite. Feb 73:31–39
2. Fisher, Jennifer Orlet, and Leann Lipps Birch. 1999 "Restricting access to palatable foods affects children's behavioral response, food selection, and intake." The American journal of clinical nutrition 69.6: 1264-1272.
3. Rollins, B. Y., et al. 2016 "Alternatives to restrictive feeding practices to promote self‐regulation in childhood: A developmental perspective." Pediatric obesity 11.5: 326-332.