Everyone loves a good scare on Halloween, but not regarding the nutrition safety of those little trick-or-treaters. Fortunately, there are many easy things parents and kids can do to stay safe and choose healthy alternatives on the spookiest of holidays. Follow these tips, tricks, and ideas to make your Halloween safe and more nutritious this year.
Food Allergies:
You and your child (depending on age) need to be observant when trick or treating if the child has any food allergies. Plan accordingly if any exposure occurs. Please do not allow the child to eat any home-baked goods that they receive due to the possibility of contamination. Often peanuts are the number one allergy to look out for during Halloween.
Snacking:
Children should not snack on the treats from their candy bags while out trick or treating. Instead, please give them a light meal before heading out for the night’s festivities, or pack a snack. Having a well-balanced supper will help prevent your child from indulging in candy for dinner and allows them to receive energy from healthy foods to make the journey from house to house. Planning to eat ahead also reminds parents to inspect the candy and throw out anything that looks suspicious before their child consumes anything they receive.
Safe Treats:
Anything your child receives in their edible goodie bags needs to be commercially wrapped and reviewed by parents/guardians before they are consumed. Parents/Guardians need to inspect commercially wrapped treats for signs of tampering, discoloration, tears in the wrapper, or anything that may be expired. All that do not pass the test need to be tossed. When going through the bags, if the children are young, items that may be a choking hazard can also be removed.
Remember being healthy does not mean giving up all the treats
It is all about balancing portioning candy with more nutritious and balanced foods such as fruits, vegetables, crackers, pretzels, milk, or granola bars. This can also be a great time to talk to your kids about moderation and healthy food choices.
- When trick-or-treating, participants receive snack/fun-sized options versus the full-size item. The snack-sized candy pieces have a decreased amount of calories, fat, and sugar, offering the child a sugar fix without overdoing it.
Healthier snacks and non-food items are becoming a significant Halloween trend within the United States. Healthier Treats:
Who said that when handing out items on Halloween for trick or treating had to be candy?
Healthy treats and fun kid-friendly non-edible options are unique and help your house stand out. Children are excited when they receive different choices.
Healthier Treats:
- 100% juice Box
- 100% fruit snacks, fruit strips
- Granola Bars, cheese, and cracker packs
- Apples or clementines
- Snack-sized options of popcorn, pretzels, goldfish, teddy grahams, animal crackers, Chex mix, trail mix, rice Krispy bars, etc.
Non-Edible Items:
- Glow Sticks
- Halloween stickers or temporary tattoos
- Bouncy balls, fidgets, spinners
- Bubbles
- Bookmarks
- Slinkys
- Snap bracelets
- Crayons and coloring set
- Spider rings, vampire teeth, pumpkin bracelets
Tomah Health wishes you a happy and safe Halloween. To review this year’s top safety tips for Halloween, please visit our Facebook and Instagram social media pages.
October Halloween Recipe:
Sources:
“Healthy Halloween Snacks.” House of Nash Eats, 7 Oct. 2020, houseofnasheats.com/healthy-halloween-snacks/. Accessed 30 May 2023.
“Halloween Safety.” Safe Kids Worldwide, www.safekids.org/halloween?gclid=CjwKCAjwvdajBhBEEiwAeMh1UxLUsWjBsrU4hcL-LgcJoQJFaHh5h8Imvp2veh-nAOjgaed1MIkKhRoCaUsQAvD_BwE. Accessed 30 May 2023.
Johnson, Diana. “Halloween Fruit Cups Your Preschooler Can Make.” Eating Richly, 3 Oct. 2016, eatingrichly.com/halloween-fruit-cups-preschool/. Accessed 30 May 2023.