Halloween - does it affect kids' health?

Halloween is a month and a half away and the inevitable questions and arguments will be popping up again as they do every single year. Questions like what to do with all the candy, how to keep your child from eating all the candy, do you ration the candy, do you take the candy away, do you let your kid go out.... and the list goes on. Oh, and don't forget "at what are kids too old to trick or treat?"

Ok, let's be clear here. A steady diet of candy isn't good for you or your child. Right. Next: eating candy and not brushing and flossing your teeth after isn't good for your teeth. Right.

Now that those facts are out, here are a few Marijke Facts of Halloween Life:

1- Unless you have diabetes, celiac disease, food allergies, sensitivity to additives or some other medical reason not to touch candy or certain types of candy, pigging out once a year is not going to hurt.
2- Kids like to have fun and believe in magic - Halloween is often one of those days when they can do both.
3- Why does there have to be a specific age or cut-off as to when it is permissible to dress up and trick-or-treat and when it isn't?

We all want healthy kids but we have to balance ourselves and allow ourselves and our kids to have some fun. I remember what fun it was to have a bag full of candy that I could eat from when I wanted to, whatever I wanted to for that one time of year. Never, any other time, did I have that freedom to eat these types of candies and chocolate bars. It was reserved for Halloween only.

The freedom to eat anything I wanted from that bag whenever I wanted didn't result in an obese child, a child who craved candy 24 hours a day, or a child who was bouncing off the roof. It resulted in a magical few days and then the novelty wore off. Most years, I ended up throwing away candy months later. After gorging for a while, the rest of the candy wasn't eaten.

So, relax. Make sure your child's toothbrush and toothpaste is nearby and used. Otherwise, remember what magic was like and allow your child some of that magic too.

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