Trick or Treat: The Evils of Halloween Candy

Who wouldn’t love Halloween? I have to admit, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays-second only to Christmas. Even as an adult, I have been known to dress-up and host pumpkin carving gatherings.

But the evil part of Halloween is its association with all of those delicious, chocolaty, gooey sweets! Your co-workers bring them in and leave them right in your line of vision. You keep bowls of it by the door-tempting you at every pass. Then on trick-or-treat night, your kids bring home luscious bagsful. And the treats-they’re all so small and innocent-looking. How can such a tiny sweet cause harm? When I was little we had contests to see who could bring in the most candy. And parents, how many of you raid the candy bag once your little one goes to bed?

As adults, we know that the candy binging is not good for us or our children. It’s bad for the teeth, the waist, and the tummy! I took a field trip down the candy aisle at the local store as research for this article (I didn’t buy any candy-honest!). Here’s a quick breakdown of the most popular candy:

Nestle’s Crunch/ ” Fun Size/ serving size: 3 bars/ 210 calories/ 10grams of fat
Peanut M&M’s/ “Fun Pack”/serving size: 2 bags/ 180 calories/ 9grams of fat
M&M’s/ “Fun Pack”/ serving size: 2 bags/ 180 calories/ 8grams of fat
Snicker’s/ “Fun Size” / serving size: 2 bars/ 160 calories/ 8grams of fat
Milky Way / “Fun Size” / serving size: 2 bars/ 150 calories/ 6grams of fat
Kit Kat/ “Fun Size” / serving size: 2 bars/ 100 calories/ 5grams of fat
Hershey Chocolate Bar/ “Fun Size” /serving size: 1 bar/ 90 calories/ 5grams of fat
Reese’s Cup/ serving size: 1 cup/ 80 calories/ 4.5grams of fat
Butterfinger/ “Fun Size”/serving size: 1 bar/ 100 calories/ 4grams of fat
Twix/ “Fun Size” /serving size: 1 bar/ 80 calories/ 4grams of fat
York Peppermint Pattie/ serving size: 1 pattie /70 calories/ 1gram of fat
Twizzler’s/ serving size: 3 sticks/ 130 calories/ .5 grams of fat

I don’t mean to ruin everyone’s Halloween fun. It’s a great Halloween. And we all deserve a little treat now and then. And I’m not saying, “Don’t you dare stick that Snicker’s bar in your mouth!” I’m saying everything in moderation. Just for fun, let’s do a little math.

Let’s say after your child comes back from trick-or-treating you raid his or her bag and gobble up four fun size snicker’s bars and a Reese’s Cup. Come onâÂ?¦you know it’s a realistic number. That’s a total of 400 extra calories in one night.

Then, let’s say for the next four days you basically munch on the same amount throughout the day (darn those co-workers for bringing in their leftover candy)! Your excess calories for five days now amount to 2000. This is fun, isn’t it?

Okay, a 135 lb person walking at a leisurely (think walking the dog) pace for one hour burns approximately 215 calories. So to cancel out the five days of candy munching, you will need to walk an extra 9.3 hours that week! That’s a lot of walking! In fact, that’s about what I burn running a marathon! (The calories you burn by walking will depend on your weight and pace. You can find numerous calorie calculators on the web. I used the one on Prevention.com’s site).

Mostly likely, your child will burn these off much faster than you. They seem to have a boundless amount of energy (and with all that added sugarâÂ?¦shew!). But candy binging is just not a good habit to introduce. (Not to mention what the sugar does to your child’s teeth and digestive system)! Keep in mind; we’re heading into the holiday season-also known as the food season. And Halloween is just the start! Next comes the turkey, gravy and holiday cookies!

So what can you do to keep the calories and fat down and the fun up?

âÂ?¢ You could forego the candy at your household so at least you won’t have that big bowl of leftovers. Instead give out fun pencils, party favors (like those plastic spider rings), small bags of pretzels, stickers, yo-yo’s, small plastic cars, hair ribbons and such for girls, little notebooks, mini juice boxes, squeeze balls, bubbles, etc.
âÂ?¢ This year-even more than others-maybe children could collect change for the victims of Katrina instead of candy. They will probably still get some candy, but it will cut down on the volume. And they’ll be doing something they can feel proud of. Or pick the charity of your choice and solicit spare change.
âÂ?¢ Instead of going out to trick-or-treat, organize a Halloween party with your child’s friends. You can have fun activities like bobbing for apples, and now you can bake wholesome treats and hand them out.
� If you live in a close-knit community or block-organize. If you only go to familiar houses, home baked treats will be okay. Or, you can collaborate on who gives out what to keep the candy to a minimum.
� Ration the candy-eating (and that goes for you too)! One piece of candy per night for an evening snack-and maybe one in the lunchbox.
�Stick to the treats at the bottom of the above list
âÂ?¢ Make deals with yourself-you can include the children too. “If I eat this Twix bar, I’m going to go for a Ã?½ hour walk after dinner with the kids, dog, spouse, gerbil, etc.”

And most importantly, have fun and enjoy a quality night out with your child. Be safe!