With Halloween just around the corner parent’s everywhere are dreading the inevitable avalanche of candy their kids are going to arrive home with. Making healthy choices is something everyone should learn how to do, the sooner the better. Here are 6 tips to help your kids make healthy choices about food.
- Limit Trick-or-Treating Time
Kid’s don’t need to hit every house on the block. Consider taking your kids Trick-or-Treating just on your own street or cul-de-sac and then calling it a night. You can always watch a Halloween themed film to fill the rest of the time before bedtime. - Trick-or-Treat Early
If you go early people are still unsure of how many kids they will get, so they tend to dole out more conservative helpings of candy. If you go near the end of the night and the evening has been slow some people will end up giving your kids extra candy just to be rid of it. - Be Discerning
Now that you have headed home for the night it is time to sort the candy. Always throw away anything that looks like it may have been tampered with or is not store bought. However, this is also a good time to ask your child which candy is their favourite. Consider setting a limit where your child can only keep one or two types of candy, or only so many pieces total. This limits their selection to the things they actually like, so they don’t end up eating candy just because it is there. The same rules apply to you, don’t just mindlessly eat from the candy bag. - Schedule "Treat time" Each Day
By setting aside a certain time each day for treats children are less likely to graze indiscriminately throughout the day. This also helps you better monitor their candy portions. This practice can also be applied to your own treats, making you less tempted to stray during the rest of the day. - Trick or Treat for Charity
Though UNICEF doesn’t hand out the little cardboard boxes for monetary donations anymore you can still go trick or treating for charity. Trick or Treat for canned goods on behalf of the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank or the Calgary Drop In Centre. - Forgo Trick-or-Treating Altogether
There is no rule that says you have to go Trick-or-Treating on Halloween. Instead, opt for a party and invite your children’s friends. You could make some healthy and scary treats, like zombie mouths from green apple slices, peanut butter and almonds or stick celery sticks in the center of peeled mandarin oranges to make mini pumpkins. Round out the evening with games and a film, and be sure to not make food the focus of the party. You could even have a mummy wrapping competition just using a few rolls of toilet paper.
From all of us here at Dream Body we wish you a healthy and happy Halloween! For other healthy food and weight loss tips visit www.paulanthony.ca and call 403.612.3538 to book your free weight loss and healthy lifestyle consultation.
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