Melanie is a mom herself & a former WIC dietitian. She is a great resource for child nutrition & provides an informative as well as a realistic look into the recommendations of a national child-feeding expert.
Halloween candy…to eat or not to eat? That is the question.
Holidays where food is a major component can cause stress for people like you and me because we typically try to eat a healthy, balanced diet from day to day. When you add kids to the mix, I can imagine it gets even trickier (or treatier. Trick-or-treat, get it? I know, tried too hard there ;)) because you want them to be healthy too.
Let’s just think about it for a minute though. Ellyn Satter, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Family Therapist who is an authority on feeding and eating, has already given an answer to this scenario. When a child feels deprived of a certain food, the child will hoard or eat too much of the restricted food at the earliest opportunity. In fact, Satter sites research here that shows young girls who had been treat-deprived would load up on those foods even if they weren’t hungry. They tended to weigh more than girls who were not treat-deprived. This would indicate that the more we restrict things, the more we want them and will over-do it when they are around so we don’t “miss out” on the chance to eat the food we like.
Satter applies what she learned from these studies, and her eating/feeding model The Division of Responsibility in Feeding (a great tool for helping figure out the roles of parents in children in feeding and eating) to provide insight on how to handle Halloween candy. These tips are geared for children, but if you don’t have children, you can apply the tips to yourself. I know I do!
Here are 3 ways to help handle the Halloween candy this year. Use these tips as a guide and determine what works best for your family! Last year, I wrote a post giving some Tricks for Halloween Treats that might spark other ideas for you and your family!
HOW TO HANDLE HALLOWEEN CANDY
Make it a Learning Opportunity
One of the greatest ways to make it not stressful is to treat the situation as a learning opportunity. Opportunities help us grow! Whether you have kids or not, Halloween can be a learning opportunity on how to manage the sweet treats. Satter suggests letting kids manage their own stash. She says to let your kids lay it all out, look at the glory of all the candy collected, and then eat whatever he/she would like from it Halloween night and the next day. After that, she suggestS the child gets to keep the candy in his/her possession but agrees to the terms that it is only to be eaten at specific times set up by you, the parent. If this rule is violated, the parent takes control of the candy.
Provide Structure
After November 1st, you and your child may decide that he/she will only eat the candy at meals and snack times. You can decide if you want to have a limit (like 1 piece of candy at dinner, 2 pieces at snack time). Satter suggests a couple small pieces at meals and as much as he/she wants at snack times. She says you could offer the candy with a glass of milk to increase your chance of getting some good nutrition in there!
As long as your child follows the rules of only eating the candy at the specific times, then he/she can still maintain control of it. If not, then the parent can hold onto it until the child can demonstrate that he/she has learned to follow the house rules.
Don’t Stress!!!
Even though it seems counter-intuitive to let your kid (or yourself) eat candy (and even as much as he/she wants on Halloween), Satter points out that wise use of sugar doesn’t affect behavior. Think long-term and recognize the chance to teach your child that all foods can be a part of a healthy diet but that some foods really are better to eat less often. If you control the candy too much on Halloween, it can be a negative experience for both of you. Halloween is such a fun holiday, so enjoy it!
