Trick-Or-Treat Guide for Parents: Maintaining Balance

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It’s that time of year again, and it can put us parents into a bit of a dilemma. Halloween is a time for children to partake in all the fun that comes along with Halloween festivities, which we know involves lots of candies. So what do we do as parents when we want our children to be a part of the normal Halloween activities, like trick-or-treating, while also ensuring they do not eat candy for the next 3 weeks?  

So what do we do when our kids come home with a massive bag of candy after trick-or-treating?  There are a few options that I have heard other parents doing that I feel are some great suggestions.

1) The Swap Out

The Swap Out would be allowing the child to swap out candies for a healthier candy option.  Allowing the children to enjoy a few selected pieces while providing them the option to swap out candies for healthier candy options.

Some allergen free, organic, Non-GMO alternative candies suggested from the EWG (Environmental Working Group) may include: Surf Sweets by Wholesome Foods, Organic Bunnies and Bats by Annie’s Homegrown, Organic Lollipops by Wholesome Foods, Organic Gummy Bears by Black Forest Organics, Organic Coconut Minis by OCHO, Chocolate Covered Almonds by Skinny Dipped, Skinny Pop Popcorn.

2) The Switch Out

The Switch Out option could be the child gets the option to take the Switch Out option where parents can provide a few other options the child can pick from, if they choose to hand over  most, or all of their candy (parents can determine weight of total to determine options). This other option can be a price limited toy, or an activity of their choice where mom or dad would take them to a movie, an arcade or have a special day set up of their choosing.      

3) Candy Buy Back

There are several locations in the area that do offer cash buy back, or other swaps in exchange for Halloween candy.  This can be an option kids are interested in where they can hand over candy in exchange for cash.  Check out this website for locations that may be participating in your area:  http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com

From my honest opinion as a nutritionist, and a mom, is that we will never have it perfect.  We will always be learning.  The great thing about teaching our children nutritious eating habits, is that we can be a great role model for helping our children know that we can learn together on how to listen to our body’s, while also making nutritious choices.  We also have to provide a realistic balance while allowing our children to venture a bit and learn what is best for them and makes them feel their best.

I feel like we all have an innate wisdom on ultimately what is best for us.  It is when the external messages start to distort our internal message, that imbalance can start to arise.  I feel that children are also innately curious about what is best for them, and what would make them feel good.  I feel as parents it is our job to open up that communication so that children can learn from our own experience when it comes to health, and why eating nutritious food helps us to feel good.

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A few tips to support children nutritionally, and learning to implement healthy eating habits can include:

1) Starting the day with protein and getting adequate levels of protein throughout the day helps regulate blood sugar and mood, cognitive function, and attention, and to reduce anxiety.

2) One way to get children to eat more fruit and vegetables is to add them, pureed or finely chopped, to foods like spaghetti sauce, smoothies, burgers, muffins, pasta and rice.

3) Letting your child play with food. Exploring different textures and tastes can increase the chances that your child will eat a food.

4) Teaching children to “eat the rainbow”. Create a game of eating one fruit or vegetable from each color of the rainbow every day.

5) Follow the “one bite” rule. Children who initially reject a food are more likely to accept the food after they are exposed to the food 8-10 times. Requiring children to try at least one mouthful of a food whenever it is served increases the chances that they will become familiar with the food and stop rejecting it down the road.

6) Enlisting your child’s help in preparing meals and snacks. Children are more likely to eat something they had a hand in making.

7) Allowing your child to have input in the meal. Allow younger children to pick out one or two foods to help you cook for dinner. Get older children involved by allowing them to choose and prepare (with supervision) one recipe to make for dinner every week.

8) Teach your child where food comes from. Start a backyard garden and teach children how to plant and harvest foods. Let them plant one food they love so they can watch it grow. The sense of pride they feel about growing their own food makes it more likely that they will show an interest in eating the food later.

References: The Institute of Functional Medicine, “Healthy Eating Tips for Children”

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