Today marks the end of several days of Halloween events and celebrations. But even after the lights in the jack-o-lanterns have been extinguished and the costumes have been packed away, the Halloween horrors continue. It’s not the ghosts or witches or black cats you need to worry about, though. It’s the candy.
And not just the candy that gets brought home by (or is left over from) trick-or-treaters. What you really need to worry about is the candy that remains, either in the cabinet or in the dish on the table. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.
If your home is like mine, you have probably been accumulating candy for several days now. Despite our best intentions, most of it will get eaten, probably in the few days after Halloween. There are several ways in which a Halloween candy binge could be bad for our health.
First, it can add up to a lot of calories, which could contribute to weight gain. As a rough estimate, a typical “fun size” candy bar has about 75–100 calories. Look in your kids’ candy bags or the bowl of leftover candy at your front door and think about how many calories that adds up to.
Second, eating lots of candy could replace healthier foods. Candy is considered “empty calories,” meaning that there is little nutritional value beyond calories—typically no vitamins, minerals, or fiber. And if you eat less at meals because of the extra candy you are consuming you may not be getting enough essential nutrients. However, since the candy binge will probably only last a few days, this shouldn’t cause long-term health problems.
Third, the high sugar intake can contribute to cavities. Bacteria in the mouth produce acid when they come in contact with sugar, and this acid erodes tooth enamel to cause cavities. Sticky candy like gummies or hard candies that are in the mouth a long time are of particular concern. Obviously, brushing after eating can reduce the risk of cavities and chewing sugarless gum may help, too.
Many parents try to reduce some of these potential health concerns by limiting how much candy their children can eat at a time. This makes sense since spreading out the candy consumption—a few pieces each day—means less sugar intake at any one time.
Others solve this problem by letting their kids eat as much candy as they want on Halloween, then taking the rest away or letting their kids keep just a few pieces. Many times kids don’t even miss the candy when it is gone. This is probably a smart approach, but it does require some creativity to get the candy away. Replacing the candy with books, toys, or other gifts might help.
For many people, the real problems begin after Halloween when the leftover candy ends up in a bowl at home or in a dish on a desk at work. While there are some people who can resist reaching into the bowl, most of us can’t. It’s just too tempting to grab a piece of candy as we walk by, and we likely do it more often than we think. In fact, sometimes the candy dish is set out for the purpose of getting rid of the candy!
As the end of the Halloween candy season nears we will probably find ourselves eating more candy than we should. The good news is that as long as we get back to a routine of healthy eating and regular exercise, a Halloween candy binge shouldn’t do any lasting harm our health.
Nutrition, exercise, and health information can be confusing. But it doesn't have to be that way. What can I help you with? drbrianparr@gmail.com | http://twitter.com/drbrianparr
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