CHICAGO (AP) — Offer apples to
trick-or-treaters and risk having your house get egged — maybe even by your own
kids.
But dentists and dietitians say you
can still make Halloween reasonably healthy for little devils and witches
without resorting to dracul-onian tactics, like no candy.
"This is such a big adventure
for them — let them have it, obviously with some caveats," said Dr. Rhea
Haugseth, a dentist in Marietta, Ga., who's president of the American Academy
of Pediatric Dentistry
There are tricks for keeping
Halloween fun without risking cavities and extra pounds, like handing out dark
chocolate instead of chewy candies or even bribing kids with a toy in exchange
for the Halloween loot. Some studies have suggested dark chocolate is good for
the heart, and chewy candies stick to the teeth.
Just don't go overboard on
restrictions, says Cole Robbins, a Chicago 12-year-old and Halloween veteran.
"Halloween is the one day of the
year where we kids just kind of break out and overload on candy," he said.
To help prevent that kind of gorging,
try to give children a healthy, filling meal before trick-or-treating, says
Bethany Thayer, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association who works at
the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.
Procrastinators, take heart. Thayer
also recommends waiting until Halloween day before buying candy, so no one is
tempted to indulge beforehand.
"I know people who have to go
back to the store because they've completely gone through their candy"
before Halloween, she said.
Haugseth suggests avoiding
cavity-promoting treats like caramels that stick to the teeth, or lollipops
that bathe teeth in a long sugary bath.
Also, having kids brush their teeth
before trick-or-treating helps reduce plaque and bacteria, which interact with
sugar to produce tooth-decaying acid, Haugseth said. Kids should also brush
right after eating candy, she said.
Ronni Litz Julien, a Miami
nutritionist whose patients include overweight and obese kids, says another
trick for parents is to ask kids not to dip into their loot bags until they
bring it all home. That's for safety, so parents can toss any
suspicious-looking candy, but it also can prevent an "eating frenzy."
She suggests parents help sort
through the loot, have kids select their 10 favorite pieces, and give the rest
away. Offer the choice of eating all 10 pieces at once, or over 10 days. That
gives them a sense of control, without feeling shortchanged, she said.
"You can't deprive them. It's
Halloween, for God's sake," she said.
President Barack Obama joked this
week on "The Tonight Show" that he'd warned his health-promoting wife
that the White House would get egged if she gave trick-or-treaters fresh fruit
and raisins instead of candy. During festivities on Saturday, the Obamas will
hand out White House M&Ms, cookies and dried fruit as they did the past two
years.
Dr. Janet Silverstein, a Gainesville,
Fla. pediatrician and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' nutrition
committee, says she doesn't give out candy, offering fruit or pencils instead;
so far her house is unscathed.
When her own children were young,
Silverstein would buy their candy for a nickel a piece. She recommends that to
her patients' parents, too — though not necessarily her other solution — she
used to eat her kids' candy.
In some places, kids willing to give
up their candy can make more than a nickel. About 1,500 dentists across the
country have agreed this year to participate in a Halloween candy buyback
organized by Operation Gratitude.
The California-based group
periodically sends care packages to U.S. troops overseas. Some dentists pay
kids $1 per pound of Halloween candy; last year, the program brought in 250,000
pounds of candy, said Carolyn Blashek, founder of the Van Nuys, Calif.-based
group.
Blashek said troops overseas
appreciate it as a token of gratitude, and Halloween candy brings back lots of
fond childhood memories. Some have given their candy to Afghan children, she
noted. Entering your ZIP code on the group's website, http://bit.ly/F1iSy will identify participating
dentists.
Parents who plan to encourage giving
up candy should be sure not to take it right away, says Brian Wansink, a
Cornell University food behavior scientist and author of "Mindless Eating:
Why We Eat More Than We Think."
That's because of a psychology
principle called "the endowment effect." It refers to kids feeling a
sense of ownership and putting a high value on candy they haul in.
If you let them eat several pieces
first, that feeling can fade and they won't even feel hungry anymore. That's
the time to offer a trade, Wansink said.
He's tried that trick with his own
three daughters, aged 2, 4, and 6, and says "it works like a charm."
His girls eagerly give up the rest of their Halloween candy in exchange for a
new trinket or other toy that won't rot their teeth, he said.
Young kids aren't really aware of how
much they brought home, and when "they sort of count their booty, that's
probably the age where kids shouldn't be trick or treating anymore," he
said.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
