With Halloween on Saturday, candy is already piling up in many Treasure Coast homes. It will likely stay there for weeks. For parents, the challenge is letting kids enjoy the holiday without the sugar spike and crash that can follow.
The American Heart Association recommends that children ages 2 and older consume no more than 25 grams, or about six teaspoons, of added sugar a day. A few fun-size candies can contain about 18 grams, putting many children close to that limit.
Marsha Woolery, a registered dietitian in the clinical nutrition department at Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital, says families don’t have to ban candy to manage it.
“We want our children to have fun,” Woolery said. “It’s important to develop a healthy relationship with their treats, and it’s all about moderation, because we don’t want them to think that candies are forbidden. When something is forbidden, that’s when they reach more for it.”
She offers four strategies.
Woolery recommends serving candy with a meal, as dessert, rather than on its own. Protein slows how quickly sugar enters the bloodstream.
“You want to pair the candies with protein,” she said. “This way you have a slower absorption of the sugars, the glucose. You won’t have that sugar rush and then a crash.”
Good pairings include nuts, peas and yogurt. Woolery said a patient recently shared a yogurt-based treat she plans to try this Halloween. Spread a layer of yogurt on a flat baking tray and top it with crushed candy. Freeze it, then cut it into squares.
“They’re getting their yogurt, which has protein and calcium and carbohydrates, and a splash of candy on top of it,” Woolery said. “Who wouldn’t like that?”
Once the trick-or-treat haul comes home, Woolery suggests dividing it into small bags, one for each day, rather than leaving it out on the counter.
“You portion them into little bags, four to six pieces for each day, so the kids know, ‘Hey, I can eat four to six pieces. That’s my limit,’” she said. “When the candy is gone, it’s gone.”
Portions should depend on a child’s age. “You don’t want to give your 4-year-old six pieces for a day,” she said. “They could get two to three pieces.”
Woolery says candy shouldn’t hang around the house until the new year. She recommends telling children the rules before Halloween arrives.
“One week after Halloween, that’s it. No more candies,” she said. “They are aware of this before Halloween day comes. It is not an indefinite thing.”
The goal, she said, is to let kids enjoy the treats and then return to normal eating habits.
Leftover candy can go into more balanced snacks. Woolery suggests a homemade trail mix of whole-grain cereal, nuts and dried fruit, with a few candy pieces mixed in.
“We want them to be getting the nutrients, the fiber, the protein, the vitamins, the minerals, while still feeling like they’re getting a treat,” she said.
Woolery also urges parents to set limits before the kids head out. She suggests capping the number of houses they visit, for example at five.
“We can’t allow the children to be in control,” she said. “As adults, as parents, as guardians, we have to be in control of the amount of candies that come into the house.”
Parents should also sort through the candy, especially for toddlers and young children. Nuts and gummy candies are choking risks for little ones. “It’s not just a number,” Woolery said. “It’s the type of candy.”
She also recommends giving away all the candy you buy for trick-or-treaters, so your own family has less to eat afterward.
Woolery said the point isn’t to get Halloween perfect. “One night of trick-or-treating isn’t what impacts long-term health,” she said. “It’s the habits we practice every day.”