All Tips No Tricks for Halloween

Regardless of religious beliefs, Halloween is a fun holiday filled with costumes, imagination and tons of candy and treats. It’s a good reminder that Halloween is just one day a year, so instead of making candy and treats off-limits, remember to consume in moderation. Try having the kids fill up on nutritious treats first, such as spider sandwiches with turkey and cheese and pretzels or apple monsters containing sliced apples, peanut butter and nuts. Afterwards offer candy, which they’ll be less likely to over-consume. Choosing smaller portions of candy and treats like fun-size candy, miniature cupcakes and cookies can help regulate the amount a child consumes. 

Halloween candy and treats tend to be high in calories, sugar, fat and provides little nutritional value. The recommended added sugar intake for adults is less than 10% of the total daily calories, according to Healthy People Dietary Guidelines 2015-2020. Based on a 2,000 daily calorie diet that would be 200 calories and 50 grams of sugar. For children ages 2-18 it is recommended to consume less than 25 grams of added sugar per day. As it’s pretty hard to say no to candy, especially on Halloween, choose your favorites and be mindful of the sugar content. Below are examples of some candies and the amount of sugar they contain. 

• Snickers Fun Size Chocolate Bar

  • 1 bar = 9 grams of sugar

• Reese’s Snack Size Peanut Butter Pumpkins

  • 2 pieces = 17grams of sugar

• Skittles Fun Size Bag

  • 1 bag = 11 grams of sugar

Once Halloween is over, try adding leftover candy and treats with whole-grains, nuts and seeds to make nutritionally sound snacks. Here are a couple recipes:

Sweet and Salty Trail Mix

• Yields: 7 cups (one serving = ¼ cup); 28 servings

• 1 Serving Size             Calories: 178 kcal       Sugars: 15 g

  • 2 cups raisins

  • 1 cup sunflower seeds

  • 1 cup almonds

  • 1 cup dry-roasted peanuts

  • 1 cup roasted and salted pistachios

  • 1 cup chocolate M&Ms

Greek Yogurt and Snickers

• Yields: 1 serving

• 1 Serving Size             Calories: 300 kcal       Sugars: 12 g

  • 1, 6 oz Greek yogurt 

  • 1 Snickers Fun Size Chocolate Bar (chopped up)