Halloween Safety

Fat and calories still exist — even if it is a holiday. Just because children are receiving tons of candy doesn’t mean they have to eat tons of it. It may be easy to mindlessly pop a piece of candy into your mouth — and another, and another — but all those fats, calories and sugars add up quickly, with little nutritional benefit. One fun-size Snickers has 80 calories, 4 grams of fat and 8.5 grams of sugar, for example. Explain to your children that their candy will last longer if they don’t eat all of it in one night. After the holiday, store the candy in a common room like the kitchen or the pantry, rather than in the kids’ rooms, to ward off the temptation to privately overeat. Some parents also opt to “buy” their kids’ candy for small gifts like a new book or trip to the movies.