As a parent, it's your duty to make sure the candy your child picked up from the neighbours is safe for consumption. But all that candy can be mighty tempting, and I'm willing to bet that a few of you have a tendency to label some of the candy 'unsafe' -- and promptly stash it in your super-secret parental hiding spot so you can enjoy after the kiddies have gone to bed. Last week, I asked if you did this -- let's see what you had to say?

• 48% of you said yes, with 17% saying you only pinched a couple of pieces, while 12% say they can't help gorging.
• 6% of you don't pinch any candy. Wow -- that's willpower.
• 10% of you don't like candy.
• 33% of you don't have kids so you have no candy to pinch.
  

The best Halloween advice came from reader Tim. He says, "We dump everything into one large bowl and each person in the house can take one piece a day unless they exercise with me, then they can have two a day. I always have more company in November." Great suggestion!

Pinch of Salt is a low-sodium version of four classic snacks -- Ruffles Potato Chips, Lay's Potato Chips, Fritos Corn Chips, and Tostidos Tortilla Chips. By "low" sodium, I mean 75 milligrams per one-ounce serving -- that's about 14 chips or 34 Fritos. Given a daily max of 2,400 milligrams, this low dose hardly makes a dent. And it's far better than the 180 milligrams that come with the classic versions. Now if fat is a concern for you, you might want to exercise some restraint before tearing open one of these Frito-Lay bags, which also happen to deliver a little carb punch too.

Word to the wise: Don't consider Pinch of Salt a health food. Just consider it treat with a little less salt. And enjoy -- in moderation.

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Adding salt to your food is generally frowned upon--that dreaded sodium is no good for your body--but that doesn't mean you should throw out your salt shakers. According to Mark's Daily Apple, here are some interesting ways to use salt:

• In your shoes: Putting a pinch of salt in your shoes will help reduce odor. Who knew?
• On your hands: Mix some salt with white or malt vinegar and rub it in your hands to get rid of the smell of chopping garlic or onions.
  
• On your apples: Submerging apple slices in a solution of cold salt water will keep them from going brown without compromising taste.
  
• On bites: A paste of salt and water will help relieve itch and pain associated with bee strings and mosquito bites.
  
• In your coffee: A small pinch of salt will take away any bitter taste in your java.
  
  

There are lots more ways to use salt -- head over to Mark's Daily Apple for more great tips.

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So the Body Mass Index (BMI) may not be the best indicator of obesity. It only accounts for height and weight and gives a whole host of other factors (muscle mass, for one) no attention at all. There's also the skin fold test, or pinch test. I called my local health and fitness center to inquire about this option -- I'd really like to see where I fall on the body fat spectrum after losing some weight -- and I was told it's not all that accurate either. Since the skin is pinched and measured using calipers, it's difficult to grab the same fat each time it's done. Obviously, this can skew results. So where do I go now for a precise evaluation of my fat?

I could go for a waist-hip ratio -- a tape measure is used around the waist and hips -- but this won't tell me exactly how much fat I'm carrying around. That leaves one method -- hydrostatic weighing. It happens to be the only route recommended by the fitness trainer I spoke with on the phone, and it involves a whole lot of water and a whole lot of exhaling.

Hydrostatic weighing works like this: After expelling all of the air from the lungs, a person is repeatedly submerged in water for five to 10 seconds. It's a very reliable measure, the gold standard really for assessment of body composition. It can be scary for those who fear the underwater world, but it works and is available at various health and fitness centers.

What do you think -- would you get dunked to capture the essence of your own body fat?

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The Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement is not all it's cracked up to be. It's a good guide and can offer a general view of your placement on the obesity continuum, but it's based on height and weight alone -- and herein lies the problem.

BMI doesn't take into account body frame or muscle mass and in one recent study cited in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports, 60 percent of women were heavier or thinner than their BMI calculations indicated.

Next time you're in the market for determining your true size, ask for a skin fold test at your doctors office or your local fitness club. Let someone actually pinch that fat. Then, you'll know more clearly where you stand.

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I just read in Men's Health magazine that if you pinch your nostrils for 10 seconds, you'll curb your cravings. Since your stomach signals hunger and your brain signals 'cravings' ... this ancient Chinese acupressure point will help you pass on the doughnuts. In all of my years teaching fitness I've never heard such a thing, but you never know. Right? At least this strategy doesn't cost anything.

I personally imagine that the act of pinching, not picking, my nose for 10 seconds on purpose would simply distract me from anything else in the world I may have been focusing on, including food. So maybe the practice will work, because it seems so silly. My only non-Chinese or ancient advice is to do it with a tissue.

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