As kids collect pounds of candy this Halloween, this can leave parents playing the candy police, using their best bargaining skills, or just navigating meltdowns. Childhood weight/health expert, Thea Runyan, offers up her 5 tips to keep kids candy consumption under control this Halloween.
- Pick your Favorites: The ritual of sorting and trading candy collected from a night of trick or treating is a huge part of Halloween fun. This year, instead of keeping all of the candy, when the sorting is done, ask the kids to choose 20-40 of their favorite pieces consider doing something else with the rest.
- Switch Witch/Halloween Ghost: A very popular solution to getting rid of extra candy is to leave it outside for the Switch Witch or Halloween Ghost. In the middle of the night, the candy gets taken away and is replace with a present. Obviously this present will vary based on the age of the child but books, gift cards and toys are very popular.
- Donate: Another popular solution to getting the extra candy out of the house is to donate it. Kids enjoy donating their candy to troops overseas, homeless shelters and cancer programs that provide candy for chemotherapy patients. Consider starting a donation program at your school where students bring their candy to the school. A local dentist buys the candy, donates the money to back to the school then send the candy overseas to the troops.
- Hand out candy you don't like: This is what I do. To resist temptation while I am handing out candy (or before Halloween when it is sitting in my pantry), I buy my least favorite candy. Then I pick my favorites from my kids collection.
- Hand out non-food items: Parents often think that this will make their house unpopular but my experience is quite the opposite. Kids are accumulating so much candy, that getting a fun Halloween toy or game is a fun change. Sugarless gum is also a guilt-free choice that is popular with all age groups.
About The Author
Thea Runyan, Kurbo Health Co-Founder & Head of Content & Counseling helps parents across the country talk to their kids about weight. Prior to cofounding Kurbo Health, Thea spent 12 years as the lead behavior coach for the renowned Pediatric Weight Control Program at Stanford, where her expertise in this field has helped hundreds of kids, teens, and families manage weight and lead healthier lifestyles. Kurbo is a mobile health coaching app and weight loss program -- designed specifically for children, teens and their families.
