"Health News - Medicine, Diet and Fitness"

By Kate McHugh, Ivanhoe Men’s health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Spooky costumes. Goblins and ghosts. And who could forget … candy! Which of these Halloween traditions is the scariest? It could be the sweets.

The bite size candies we give out to trick-or-treaters are hardly one bite. Each sugar-loaded sweet packs between 70 and 150 calories and 3 to 6 grams of fat per serving. Multiply that by the four, six or 15 candies kids eat afterwards and we could be talking thousands of extra calories.

Paul Belenger, R.N., assistant director at the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes in Ottawa, Canada, tells Ivanhoe a few extra calories can start adding up. “Even if a child eats a little bit of extra calories every day, say 100 calories, which is not very much. But if you do that every day, 365 days of the year, it can actually add up to 10 pounds a year,” Belenger says.

Belenger reminds parents their kids don’t have the same autonomy and control over food that adults do. “The major culprits are sugars and fats that are contributing to the obesity epidemic,” Belenger says. “Because we are hardwired to like those things, it’s very difficult, especially for children, to be able to control themselves. That’s why it’s very important for parents to be monitoring and only giving out candy occasionally.”

Kids aren’t the only ones in danger of scary sweets. With all of that candy sitting in plain sight, it’s tough for parents not to indulge too. “Once you bring the candy in the house, it’s very difficult to maintain the control. It’s almost like second-hand junk food. You know it’s in the cupboard there and it’s just calling your name,” Belenger says.

Belenger recommends parents set a time limit on candy’s presence in the home. After that time, just throw it out. He also recommends we consider giving out non-sweets at our doors. Halloween tattoos, stickers or crayons make fun gifts that won’t cause a sugar high. And when you’re giving out candy, don’t over do it. “There’s not reason to feel the need to give them two big handfuls,” Belenger says. “Ideally, it’s best to give a few candies sparingly.”

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Paul Belenger, R.N.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Diabetes, Medical News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.