The Dietitians' Guide to a Fear-Free Halloween

Do you fret about having Halloween candy in the house? Plan ahead for how to get rid if it after? Let your kids pick out a certain number of candies and donate the rest?

If you feel at a loss or conflicted about how to manage Halloween candy in your home, you are NOT alone! Candy angst plagues many adults, and particularly parents this time of year.

Many adult clients and parents struggle with this. Here are some common things we hear.

"What do I do with all the leftover candy? I can't have it in my house, I'll eat it all."

“I make sure to buy candy I don’t like and that way, I won’t eat it.”

"My child has no shut off when it comes to sweets, I need to get it out of the house.”

These common concerns are understandable in the context of prominent messaging about sugar and potential health consequences (which are at best over-stated and more often, sensationalized, and lacking validity).

Many people assume (understandably) that removing access to sweets is the answer.

The problem is, when you take drastic measures to control your child's candy stash, you aren't protecting them from sugar, you're projecting fear.

Let’s be honest, kids don't have an issue with candy. Parents do. Unfortunately, parents make it a kid issue by micromanaging it, throwing it out or donating it. These practices send a strong message: Candy is bad! Don't eat it!

These internalized messages lead to thoughts like “I’m bad for wanting candy” and as a result, feelings of fear, guilt, and shame…. three things that we absolutely want to keep out of kids' relationship with food!

Ironically (or not) when you send the message that candy or sugar is “bad”, you aren’t decreasing your child’s desire for it and in fact, are likely increasing their psychological drive for it. Depriving kids from sweets on a regular basis often leads to loss of control around sweets when exposed to them. And, by the way, this concept applies to YOU too!

Take a moment to imagine yourself as a child. You’ve just brought home all your Halloween candy and are so proud as you sort through it, trading items you don’t like with friends and siblings. Now, imagine your parent tells you to pick x number of items to keep and the rest will be donated. How do you feel?

Now, think about times when you may have restricted items from your own diet, maybe sugar. What do you notice during those times? Do you think less about the items you’ve excluded? Do you want them less?

It may be hard to read this, especially if you've engaged in these practices but as dietitians working with eating disorders, we want you to know so you can DO BETTER! We also totally understand the intention behind these actions. You want your child to be healthy and have a good relationship with food.

The primary goal of feeding kids is to help them become competent eaters who can feed themselves someday. As simple as that sounds, it can be very hard to know how to do that with click bait headlines making you question all the food choices you make.

We’re here to help!

If you would some ideas on how to manage the Halloween candy with your kids in a way that doesn't invoke fear, shame or guilt, join us on Halloween (October 31st) at noon for this virtual event where some of our dietitians will discuss common issues clients present this time of year and how they help them navigate through them.

Topics discussed will include: a simple tool for mindful eating you can use throughout the holidays, helpful child feeding practices, suggestions for managing Halloween candy.

We hope to see you there!