Halloween treats to enjoy and avoid

Every parent is guilty of it: You spend 364 days of the year preaching to your children the importance of eating healthy and then Halloween rolls around and all bets are off. Not only do we suddenly let our kids indulge in sugary excess, we dip into it ourselves and hand it out to the rest of the neighborhood.

Talk about a mixed message.

While one day of gorging on candy bars isn't going to ruin a child's or an adult's overall diet, there are ways to set a less confusing example. The trick is to encourage kids to eat the treats that fall in the healthier end of the spectrum, and show them how to savor their sweets in moderation.

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"You don't want to kill the spirit of Halloween," says Charles Stuart Platkin, author of The Diet Detective's Calorie Bargain Bible. "But there are ways you can be creative and still have good food."

Sweet Substitutions

Having a healthier Halloween is not as difficult as it seems, given the growing number of health-minded treats available today. Sugar-free product releases increased 51 per cent from 2006 to 2007 and new portion-controlled products grew 22 per cent in 2007, according to database and analysis provider Datamonitor. That's due to new sugar alternatives as well as consumer demand for a greater variety of healthier products, says Susan Fusell, spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association.

When you're looking to differentiate the healthy from the not-so-healthy treats, Platkin recommends reading labels and looking for fruit, nuts and seeds, and as little added sugar and processed ingredients as possible. (Keep in mind that organic cane juice, molasses and honey, among others, are all other names for sugar.) Platkin suggests Yotta Bars, which pack six to nine veggies in each fruit-flavored snack. But you could also go with fruit leather made with 100 per cent fruit, chocolate-covered raisins or clementines.

Other smarter choices include dark chocolate, since it tends to contain less butter fat and pack more antioxidants than milk-chocolate treats. Also try portion-controlled items, says Michele Turcotte, a Wisconsin-based registered dietitian. While a bite-size chocolate candy bar or a 100-calorie pack of Oreos isn't good for you, both are better than regular-size portions.

Encourage kids to stay away from saturated-fat-laden cakes and full-sized candy bars, as well as sticky treats such as taffy, caramel or gummy candies. The latter will stick to your kids' teeth, promoting tooth decay, says Temple University pediatric dentist Mark Helpin.

Gearing Up For Halloween

No matter what you hand out or what ends up in your child's candy bucket, there are many ways to minimize Halloween's negative nutritional impact.

Start by limiting the sugar you and your kids eat a few days before Halloween, says Turcotte. Once the big day arrives, take a long run in the morning or a walk at lunch. As you hang out waiting to dish candy, keep your hands and mouth occupied by sipping a sugar-free hot chocolate or tea. Chewing sugarless gum may also do the trick.

If you know your kids are going to dig into their buckets while out trick-or-treating, send them off with a bottle of water and tell them to swish before swallowing to cut the risk of tooth decay, Helpin says. Better yet, send them out with full tummies so they won't have as much room for candy.

And when your kids return home, as you're sifting through their loot to make sure it hasn't been tampered with, portion out the treats in plastic baggies, suggests Jennifer Ebelhar, a registered dietitian and assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University. (While you're at it, throw away treats that kids admit they don't like.)

Always keep candy in the kitchen, instead of kids' rooms, and put it inside a cabinet after a few days to lessen the temptation. Ebelhar also recommends giving kids a date on which you'll throw away leftovers. Just watch that they don't save up the candy, then gorge themselves astrash day nears.

Don't forget about how effective a strategy distraction can be, either. Try to get your candy-focused kids to think more about their kooky costumes, pumpkin carving, haunted houses and hanging out with their friends. Following these tips, on top of paying attention to the treats you and your family eat, will go a long way toward making Halloween a little healthier.

"Willpower, in my opinion," Ebelhar says, "is something we have to create a conducive environment for so you can make those good choices."