Healthy alternatives to Hallowe'en candy

by Daryl Kulak (Subscribe to Daryl Kulak's posts)
Oct 10th 2006 1:07PM

Categories: Healthy Kids, Diet & Weight Loss, Reviews & Products, Nutrition & Supplements

Well, it's almost time for Hallowe'en again!

Are you getting ready by stocking up on candy?

Here are some ideas on alternatives to the usual sugary treats, including some surprises!

Individually-wrapped small bags of pretzels
Cheese and crackers (no trans-fat)
Fruit juice boxes (100% pure juice)
Small packages of nuts or raisins

You can also consider non-food items, like:

Stickers
Balloons (not to children under 4)
Crayons
Pencils
Colored chalk
Baseball cards
Rubber spiders
Nickels or dimes
Whistles
Toothbrushes (??)

I don't know. Is it evil to give out toothbrushes on Hallowe'en? Maybe. Would I feel like a mean old dentist? But what if you could find some cool orange-and-black toothbrushes with a Hallowe'en theme (go about halfway down the page on the link)?

These tips came from Kansas State University, Wiki How, and Children Today. These websites also have good ideas for what parents can do before the kids leave to trick-or-treat (feed them first!), and what to do once they get home, and also how to incorporate good nutrition into a Hallowe'en kids party.

And remember to stay away from artificially sweetened candy like aspartame/Nutrasweet/Equal/Splenda, etc. These man-made chemical substances have their own problems (more to come on that in future blog posts).

Source

Comments (9)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sarah 10-10-2006 @ 2:25PM

All of these "treats" would make out anyone to be the mean 'ol dentist in my opinion!

What about teaching your kids that candy, or any other treat, is healthy in moderation? You can't pretend that candy and sugar don't exist, and side stepping the problem with these other "solutions" seems counter-productive. Not to mention ruining the whole "trick or treat" festivity of the holiday.

Rhea 10-10-2006 @ 2:54PM

Giving out toothbrushes would not be mean, but it sure would get your house egged.

Howie Jacobson, PhD 10-10-2006 @ 7:17PM

Would you teach your kids that cigarettes or cocaine are healthy in moderation?

Candy is not healthy in any quantity. In small quantities, it's less harmful than in large quantities. It's an addictive substance, not found in nature, and it leads to a degeneration of the taste buds. Kids who eat candy suddenly find fruit not sweet enough. Vegetables become downright yucky. Everything must be sweetened or salted to become palatable.

Junky foods are a more insidious addiction than optional substances like nicotine and recreational drugs, because we can't abstain from food.

That said, Halloween is not the time to take your first stand. If you have been raising fit kids all year long, you can talk to them about alternatives to candy. If you suddenly get religion after 11 months of indulgence, that isn't going to fly.

The goal is not 100% abstinence from everything but sunflower sprouts and nettle tea. Rather, it's about a healthy lifestyle, free from addictions and cravings and obsessions of any kind.

Instead of industrially produced, corn-syrup sweetened fake foods, why not introduce your kids to high quality European or American chocolates? They may cost ten times more, but that's a good reason to buy one-tenth the amount and learn how to savor instead of wolfing mindlessly.

Katheryn Ostler 10-10-2006 @ 8:55PM

I like the sticker idea though.

AnaBell 10-10-2006 @ 7:22PM

This post reminds me of Willy Wonka's father.

Do you want your kid to become candy obsessed? Don't give him candy.
Extremist positions never work.

Sharleen 10-10-2006 @ 8:54PM

Last Halloween I gave out little, cheap, fair-like, Halloween prizes instead of candy. I think the kids enjoyed picking out a martian finger, spider ring, eye bouncy ball or Halloween tattoo just as much as any other candy, especially the little ones.

Daryl Kulak 10-11-2006 @ 12:07AM

I think I'm going to try it this year. Especially the pretzels and stickers. Let's see if our house gets egged or not. :-)

I don't really think #3 is taking an extremist position. He does say some chocolates are better than others.

Lynda 11-04-2006 @ 4:06AM

I'm sure not every house will be giving toothbrushes instead of lollies, so if you gave toothbrushes (coupled with something fun, like stickers or a toy so you don't get egged) your neighbourhood kids are going to end up with sweet alternatives in their sack of lollies.
Surely this is a good way of teaching moderation.

Daryl Kulak 10-12-2006 @ 1:21PM

Hi,

I found a source of interesting "healthy" Hallowe'en treats.

MotherNature.com, the online health food store, is featuring a whole range of organic chocolates, chewing gum and other nice treats.

I noticed that they are extremely expensive, even with the 25% off for Hallowe'en. But still worth pointing out:

http://tinyurl.com/y2onqk