Avoid the Halloween Sugar Rush

A healthier Halloween

Halloween is fast approaching, and your little devils, witches and goblins are looking forward to bags full of sweets. Here are some ways to avoid the Halloween sugar rush, and minimise the damage to little teeth.

• Eat a big dinner before you go. Let them choose something they like, that will fill them up. Hopefully they’ll be too stuffed to eat loads of sweets! 
• Before you leave the house, discuss how much and how often children will eat their sweets along the way, and save the rest to divide up at home. 
• Encourage other parents (or whoever you’re visiting for trick or treat) to give money, stickers, pencils, or anything without sugar! 
• Incorporate some physical activity into Halloween – a walk around the neighbourhood will help children use up some of their extra energy! 
• Encourage children to spread the sweets out over the next week or so. A good idea is to create a ‘sweet bank’ in a sealed container. You can agree on times when the bank will be open for ‘withdrawals’ over the following weeks. 
• After Halloween, offer trick or treat sweets as a substitute for dessert after dinner or give a few pieces with a healthy snack. 
• Encourage children to drink water throughout the day, particularly after eating sweets. Water will help to rinse the sugar from their teeth. 
• If they’re on a real sugar high, give them enough space to bounce it off, but don’t be tempted to delay bedtime too long – it will only make them ratty! Try a hot milky drink, a game together or a story and see if you can raise a few yawns. 
• Make sure they brush their teeth well that night!

Finally, don’t worry too much. One night of sweets isn’t going to ruin a healthy child’s entire diet. Overly-restrictive rules on sweets can actually make them more appealing to kids, so try to relax - just don’t allow your children to eat too many of those foods too often!