Candy, candy, candy, and bountiful amounts of candy! Even with COVID still around, children this Halloween will be getting their hands on it! Children look forward to Trick-or-Treating every year: dressing up and going out with friends, the spooky and fun decorations, but most of all, their well-earned cache of candy for the night! On the other hand, parents worry. Will their children overindulge? Will this affect mealtime at home? Will their sugary indulgence lead to more cavities? As a result, some parents end up restricting and controlling the consumption of candy for their children. Parents can have the best intention for their children’s wellbeing. However, denying opportunities and experiences for children to have candy on this day (or any other day in life) can raise a myriad of issues.
Sugar will always be present in our society, with or without Halloween. Rather than limiting or denying children access to it out of fear, it is important to guide and educate children so that they may have the tools to help themselves make positive choices. In this case, to grant children the opportunity to eat candy without restrictions or demonizing it (e.g. candy is bad for you) facilitates an overall positive relationship with food. If children are told candy is “bad” for them, they might interpret many things: they might feel they are “bad” for wanting to eat it, that they are “bad” for having consumed it, they might even go as far as to think that their friends are “bad” for eating candy – all of which would post shame on themselves. Also, if candy is used in a reward and punishment function (punishment such as withholding candy), it would negatively affect a child’s system of values. Restricting candy to children would likely trigger the forbidden fruit effect, where anything that seems to be unavailable becomes more desirable. As a result, when children finally have candy in their possession, they would overindulge to make up for the lack of it in their life. Instead of denying children’s sugar consumption on Halloween, instead, make this a learning opportunity for mindful eating!
In the long-run, children having access to candy is healthier for them on the physical, emotional, and mental aspects. So instead of denying children candy, we should take advantage of this platform to educate and guide them to positively develop their relationship with it! For example, candy is just candy, identifying it as neutral would make it less of a commodity, thus no longer sought out or consumed obsessively. Without negatively coining candy with a term (e.g. bad food, junk food, etc.), there would be no feelings of guilt and shame when consuming it. On the other hand, providing structure for eating candy would be a healthy method in establishing moderation for children. For example, establishing specific snack times where candy can be consumed. Even allowing children to portion the amount of candy at each snack time in advance would give them the responsibility to moderate how much they are eating (especially when most children would want their cache of candy to last a while). Or, on the night of Halloween, after checking their candy they can eat as much as they’d like. If they end up getting sick, it’s an experience that they will remember forever - as it is said, “pain is a powerful motivator for change!” The most important thing is to provide the opportunity and platform for children to exercise their free will while guiding them on the side, and being there for them when they hit a stump. These experiences will help children develop a balanced and positive relationship with food.
There is no perfect plan in establishing a structure to moderate the consumption of candy for your child. However, you know your child best and use that to your advantage when guiding them. This is more than just facilitating children on how to develop mindful eating skills, moderating intake, and one’s relationship with food. All of this serves as their developmental experiences and can ultimately affect how they shape their life in the future!
References
https://dieteticdirections.com/parents-must-stop-restricting-halloween-candy/?fbclid=IwAR2JWzFe9u0nXyr3t6FHLHr8fFhygZdyJueJtc8r5x9EpHQB9Lc2tAlg3oo (Andrea D'Ambrosio, RD)
https://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/
https://bcdairy.ca/milk/articles/halloween-candy-whats-a-parent-to-do (Carmen Gorlick, RD)
https://dietitiandirectory.ca/blogs/canada/alberta/calgary/how-local-dietitians-dont-ruin-halloween-for-their-children-while-keeping-their-kids-healthy-and-growing-well/?fbclid=IwAR3wMW6gTp_0j4hWG43SSgSRqjmX2e4csyS9kwCSIAH5KdwHc4stpea8Va0 (Andrea Holwegner RD, Cheryl Strachan RD)
https://www.crystalkarges.com/blog/why-your-child-is-obsessed-with-desserts-and-how-you-can-end-the-craze (Crystal Karges, MS, RDN, IBCLC)