How do parents cope with the Halloween candy overload?
Dressing up in creepy costumes and walking like zombies down neighborhood streets is just half of the fun of Halloween. Gleefully unloading sacks full of candy (to figure out what to eat first … second ... and third), now that's the delicious other half.
Parents want this year's Hallow's Eve to be a happy and healthy one for their trick-or-treaters, and area nutrition and dental experts say it can be as long as moderation and good practices remain in focus.
Leona Kim of Rolling Meadows gives in to Halloween — a bit.
“They can eat one piece a day for a week, and then we throw it away,” she says of the candy heap gathered by her three daughters, ages 11, 8 and 5. “They try to negotiate for more, but we don't eat a lot of candy in our home.”
This will be little Enzo and Sophia Oliveira's second Halloween. Their dad, Luis Oliveira expects that they'll charm candy-givers into more treats than their little tummies can handle. But no worries.
“They'll get a lot, but I'll eat most of it,” admits Oliveira of Schaumburg.
Once Jerome Ratliff's three children (twins age 5 and an 8-year-old boy) return from trick-or-treating, he and his wife comb through their stash to make sure it's safe. The children are allowed to eat “10 percent” of what they reel in, but they rarely remember to finish it. “What's left,” he says, “we just give away.”
Jovy Alonzo of Pingree Grove gives her three, ages 16, 12 and 9, about a month to enjoy their loot. “They get to select about 20 pieces,” she says. “Then I take the rest to work.”
Setting reasonable guidelines is key for children on Halloween, says Amanda Nelson, a registered dietician at Edward Hospital. But not all candy is created equally. Some candy, like saltwater taffy and caramels, Nelson says, promote more cavities than other varieties; whereas candies with nuts and dark chocolate tend to have a higher nutritional value.
She stresses the importance of enjoying goodies in moderation.
“It can help children not overindulge when they get the opportunity to,” she says. Furthermore, she advises parents against using the sweet stuff as a “bribe, reward or to show love and affection as it can set (children) up for bad habits in the future.”
Candy doesn't have to wreak havoc on teeth either. In some cases, Harper College dental hygiene associate professor Bonnie Chisholm-Green says, eating more is, well, better.
“It's almost better to let them to eat a little more at once, than to have a piece of candy a day because the bacteria in our mouth, when we ingest anything that breaks down, starts demineralizing our teeth,” she says of the process that breaks down the hard enamel of teeth over time, softening them and making them more susceptible to cavities.
Sticky candies and even treats made with raisins are less desirable than those that easily rinse out of the mouth with water. The same goes for super sour candy.
“Anything that's sour will have more sugar in it and will promote more enamel breakdown,” she explains.
Parents can help by having children brush and floss immediately following the candy fest, swish water around in their mouths or chew a piece of gum (containing xylitol) or a small chunk of (unprocessed) cheese.
“It's going to attack the bacteria in the mouth that causes decay,” she says. “Kids have to have a little bit of fun, but you do have to think about the demineralization of the teeth.”