Halloween Survival Guide
Halloween is coming and that usually means a big increase in how much sugar our kids are eating. (And I don't know about your house, but the kids aren't the only ones that get into the Halloween candy around here!)
Obviously, the ideal amount of candy for kids (and kids-at-heart) is NO candy. But this is not the time to play the hard cop. Here are some tips and strategies for allowing everyone to enjoy the holiday while containing the damage.
- Don’t let your kids start eating the candy they collect while they are still out trick or treating. If they’re eager to get home to have a piece of candy, they might be willing to stop with a slightly smaller payload.
- Set (and enforce) limits on how much candy may be eaten each day and when (i.e., only after meals).
- Halloween candy should be enjoyed instead of and not in addition to other sweets that the kids might otherwise have. Limit other sources of sugar such as sodas and sweetened drinks, sugary breakfast cereals, cookies, and desserts, while the Halloween candy is around.
- The World Health Organization recommends limiting added sugars to 10% of total calories. For a 90-pound 11-year-old, that’s about 50 grams of sugar per day. For a 40-pound six-year-old, it’s closer to 25 grams of sugar.
You can look up the amount of sugar or calories in most popular candy brands using our nutrient search tool. You'll notice that the candies that are lowest in calories are not necessarily the lowest in sugar. Candies with peanuts or other nuts, for example, are higher in calories but lower in sugar (more of the calories come from protein and fat).
By the way, although they are low in sugar and calories, I don't recommend giving sugar-free ("diabetic") candy to kids...the sugar alcohols can cause diarrhea, especially they you eat too much.
Candies that are lower in sugar (less than 20 g per “fun size” serving):
- Hershey’s Reeses Sticks
- Nutrageous
- Chocolate covered peanuts
- Hershey’s Chocolate Almond Bites
- Mr. Goodbar
- Reeses Pieces
- Kit Kat
Candies that are lower in calories (less than 100 calories per "fun size" serving):
- Bubble gum
- Twizzler's Bites
- Jelly Beans
- Bit-o-Honey
- York Peppermint Patty
- Tootsie Rolls
- Raisinets
- Gumdrops
- Skittles
- Starburst
Are there any candies that are both low in sugar AND low in calories?
The best option I could find were CocoaVia brand chocolates. Their bars and bites (with various fruits and nuts) are a bit lower in sugar and calories than most similar candy bars. Plus, they are extra high in those flavonoids that make chocolate so good for you. Unfortunately, they're not cheap.
Helping your kids enjoy the holiday in moderation is probably your best bet.
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Posted by: Smacky | Oct 27, 2008 11:48:12 AM
I think its absolutely rediculous to have parents trying to ruin a perfectly fine holiday like Halloween. Halloween ISN'T the perfect opportunity to teach your kids about sugar consumption (or the absence of it). That's a great way to destroy a fun holiday. You only have one life, so live a little bit! One day of wildness won't hurt you. People need days like that or they'll end up going crazy.
Kids eat too much sugar?? Their bodies will let them know the FIRST time, they'll feel sick, and they'll listen better the next time! They are a lot less likely to listen to a healthnut parent who cuts them off from indulging in one of the best parts of the holiday.
When it goes as far as attempting to COUNT the GRAMS of sugar appropriate for your son or daughter, that draws the line with me. It's all in MODERATION. I encourage kids to listen to their OWN bodies to find out what they can handle and how it makes them feel, and also encourage regular oral hygiene.
Posted by: Atkins4Life | Oct 25, 2008 3:30:41 PM
Truly UNBELIEVABLE that a nutritionist is recommending eating *any* refined sugar candy vs. those with sugar alcohols. You should be ashamed of yourself for promulgating the continued use of refined sugar which only promotes more addiction to it. If you're so concerned about diarrhea, eat candy with UNrefined sugar, those with organic sugar, eveaporated cane juice, etc. As a diabetic, I can eat plenty of maltitol, sorbitol, erythrithol, xylitol and other sugar alcohol containing chocolates and products without diarrhea. Let parents practice tough love and say NO to refined sugar products, their children will be better off in the long run.
Posted by: PittsburghM | Oct 23, 2008 3:13:12 PM
Shmoozle - I have to laugh about your discovery about "diet" or "sugar-free" candies because I went through the same thing, only with Jelly Bellies. One serving is 35 of those little things...problem is the recommended "dose" is 8, until you know what it will do to your stomach. The warning on these is tiny and not close to the nutrition information, so it is easy to be unaware. I second your thoughts - be careful esp. with kids and sugar-free candy, and don't hand it out to the neighbors kids unless you want to start a small battle with irate parents.
Posted by: shmoozle | Oct 20, 2008 4:26:37 PM
WARNING, WARNING WILL ROBINSON...Ok...enough....here is a little tidbit of info for those sensitive to sugar alcohols such as SORBITOL, the "diet" sugar contained in DIET York Peppermint Patties - they COULD make you very VERY ill and force you to set up temporary residency in the confines of your bathroom should you "overdose" on them. My advice to you is NOT to eat them if you have any inkling as to your or your child's possible hyper-sensitivity to sorbitol...I found out the hard way and was sick for almost 24 hours after eating 7 of the small patties (the contents of one bag), and I am a two-hundred pound, 6'-1" male.
Yes, there IS A WARNING LABEL ON THE PACKAGE, but then again, how was I to know what would happen after eating 7 small candies, as I have never been known to be sensitive to sorbitol.
My Halloween Suvival Tip: EAT THE REGULAR YORK PEPPERMINT PATTIES...they are harmless (and quite good), unless you of course are diabetic, obese or both...otherwise, the Diet YORK PATTIES SHOULD BE AVOIDED if at possible. Small children may be even more sensitive to sorbitol and the consumption of even one or two of the patties could result in "stomach flu-like" symptoms. BE CAREFUL
Posted by: Shauna | Oct 19, 2008 12:02:13 PM
This is semi-related...as long as we're talking about feeding kids: I noticed that there's a listing in NutritionData for human milk, you know, breast milk, and that it's listed as being inflammatory. How can it be that the food that's supposed to be the sole source of nutrition for an infant is inflammatory? Is it possible that the composition of breastmilk is variable, depending upon factors such as the diet of the mother, and that it could therefore receive an anti-inflammatory rating under the right conditions?
