Let them eat candy
When children see treats as forbidden, they may be more likely to over-indulge
I absolutely loved Halloween as a kid. I grew up in a community where every house had a pumpkin glowing in the window, and kids from tot to teenager donned ghost and witch costumes to collect chocolate bars, chips and candy. It was a night filled with pure joy. So I’m saddened every October to see a proliferation of articles on how to make Halloween healthier. You might assume that I, as a dietitian, would be the one writing those “healthy Halloween” articles, encouraging neighbours to give out toys instead of treats, or parents to confiscate most of the jubilantly collected loot. But that’s not what I believe. I don’t want candy and chocolate to be marred by guilt and shame. Halloween shouldn’t be about replacing caramels with stickers. Instead, every day should be about parents acting as role models to teach children to develop a healthy relationship with food. Adult Americans, as well as children, get more than half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods. Chips, chocolate, candy, fast food and pizza are daily staples for many Americans. Considering this high intake of processed foods, allowing candy for a few days in October isn’t our biggest failing when feeding our kids. Instead, we’re not teaching them how to eat well or understand their appetite. Rather than trying to make Halloween healthy, we should raise children who enjoy eating a variety of nutritious foods all year, and who know how to eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full. That way, they can learn to eat in a balanced way, even when it comes to Halloween candy. The best model I’ve seen for raising healthy eaters comes from Ellyn Satter, a social worker and dietitian who developed the division of responsibility. This is a method parents can use to help their children learn to eat the right amounts and types of foods to fuel their active, growing bodies. The model explains that the parents are responsible for choosing and preparing food, deciding when and where meals and snacks will be eaten, and teaching manners. The children’s role is to decide how much of the food that’s served they’ll eat. Studies show that children who have regular access to candy and treats tend to eat them moderately, while children who recognize them as forbidden foods tend to load up when available, even if they aren’t hungry. “When you demonize Halloween candy and a child is made to feel shame when they eat it, that can backfire, and they may overeat it later,” says dietitian Carol Danaher.