Halloween Candy and Kids: A Fearless Approach
When Halloween night is over, many parents will be wondering, “How do I allow my kids to enjoy their Halloween candy without eating too much?”
The “food police” might have very different answers for you like, “Dole it out two pieces a day” or “Make the kids trade it in for money to buy a toy.”
The fear-based approach to controlling Halloween candy is symptomatic of our cultural fear-based approach to eating in general.
The Key to Halloween Candy and Kids
When I was struggling with yo-yo dieting, I attempted to control my children’s food much the same way I thought I needed to control my own. Not surprisingly (in retrospect), this only led to a fixation on sweets and secret eating. When I “discovered” a blue Gatorade my young son bought with his allowance because we never bought sweet drinks, I realized my need to control their food so rigidly wasn’t working for them any better than it worked for me!
Look, I’m not advocating a free-for-all. I still feel families need to make mindful decisions about eating. But making Halloween candy “bad” is likely to backfire, giving certain foods more power, lasting into adulthood!
So my fearless approach to kids and Halloween candy shifted to putting them in charge. After all, learning to handle an abundance of food is an essential skill in our current environment.
Remember, you’re not raising children, you’re raising adults!
Here’s how this looked for our family (from the opening to Chapter 10 of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat.)
Mindful Eating, Halloween Candy, and Kids
I used to love watching my kids at Halloween because they taught me so much about eating mindfully. They were just as excited about their costumes, trick-or-treating with their friends, and sorting and trading their candy as they were about eating it. Don’t get me wrong; they love candy. But the candy was only a part of the whole experience.
When my children were small, I kept their Halloween candy out of reach and rationed it by allowing them to choose a couple of pieces each day from their separate stashes.
I was still dieting in those days, so I never had any candy of my own. I would carefully steal anything chocolate that I didn’t think they’d miss. Fortunately, they never found the wrappers I guiltily shoved to the bottom of the garbage. By the time they were old enough to figure it out, I was no longer trying to control them—or myself.
When they were older, their diets were more balanced than most kids’ (and adults’ for that matter), and I knew they were capable of managing such things as their own Halloween candy.
I marveled at how each child’s individual personality showed up when they were in charge!
Tyler loved the sugary kid-candy and would devour his favorites within a few weeks, leaving the rest. His usual intake of Popsicles and other treats decreased accordingly.
Elyse insisted on keeping her candy in her closet so her brother wouldn’t eat it. Each day she would rummage through her bag to find a few perfect pieces. I’d like to think I taught her moderation, but I know she just loved to savor it. She’d eventually forget about the candy or lose interest when her favorites were gone, and I’d throw the rest away by Valentine’s Day.
I have my own chocolate now. Not the leftovers my kids don’t want, but the kinds I love. It takes days or even weeks for me to finish a box or a bag, and on more than one occasion, I’ve been surprised by coming across some that I had completely forgotten about.
As your kids mature, increase their responsibility for deciding!
Learning how to handle our food-abundant environment without feeling restricted and deprived is one of the keys to eating effortlessly. When you take a fearless approach and try not to make the Halloween candy too big of a deal, your kids will feel less compelled to eat it all – now and as adults!
This article has been updated from a previously published version.
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