Halloween, which comes soon, is the scariest day of the year. That’s because it’s become an approved National Sugar Overload Day.

For Halloween, 157 million well-meaning Americans  (or nine out of 10 shoppers) will fork over a whopping $ 2.1 billion to buy candy corn and lots of chocolate “treats.” (Indeed, 72 percent of all candy spent this Halloween will be on sugar-filled, chocolate.)

Every Halloween, millions of mindless, health-unconscious adults — parents and non-parents alike — take an ultra-permissive, Ditch the-Diet mentality.

Many, if not most of you, may also experience collective Sugar Ignorance.

Indeed, you simply “forget” everything you’ve ever heard or learned about the dangers of sugar overloading, including its confirmed connection (by researchers) to heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and more.

Instead, parents likely will lovingly, good-naturedly tell their innocent, sugar-craving kids, “Sure, you can have some candies, but brush your teeth afterwards.”

And your neighbors will kindly give out candies galore to those cute, young, costumed trick-or-treaters.

I’m not blaming you for being among the candy pushers every Halloween. You’re a product of our sugar-obsessed environment.

But this year, I invite you to take seven simple steps before you take your kids out trick-or-treating.

1. Take your kids with you to the drug store, supermarket or thrift warehouse while you buy Halloween candy. Make sure to bring a large magnifying glass with you.
2. Then together, before spending a dime, play a Find-the-Sugars game. Just read food labels of candies you’re thinking of buying. You may even want to take pictures of ingredient lists on your phone. By the way, make sure to study ingredients for a Halloween favorite, candy corn.
3. Before you buy candies, choose those with the least amount of high fructose corn  syrup, sugar or other sweeteners. If you can find candies with protein, that would be ideal, but that may be tough, especially since three million people are allergic to peanuts and treenuts.
4. When arriving home, Get Spooked Together. Learn about the dangers of Sugar Overloading, especially on high fructose corn syrup. To begin, I urge you to look at my colleague Nancy Appleton’s amazing list of 141 Reasons Sugar Ruins Your Health. If you have time, go deeper with my first book, Sugar Shock!: How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life– and How You Can Get Back on Track;  the late William Dufty’s Sugar Blues; or Dr. Robert Lustig’s Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease.
5. Then invite your kids to create their own list of Top 5 Ways Sugar Can Mess You Up. Reward your child with a non-sugary “treat” such as a colored pencil, sticker or extra hugs.
6. Before you head out trick-or-treating, encourage your children to act like his or her chosen costumed character. In fact, the American Dental Association and PopCap Games found that “89 percent of kids surveyed say they would still like” Halloween if “it was less about candy and more about other types of fun.” (Admittedly, the survey also found that “93% would prefer to receive a video game instead of candy while trick-or-treating.”
7. Finally, before your kids ring neighbors’ doorbells to trick-or-treat, feed them well. Give them a well-balanced meal (ample protein, quality fats and some veggies).

May you and your family have a very Happy Halloween.

Connect with Us: Which of these tips most appeals to you? What other ideas do you have? Talk to us here, on this Sugar Shock Blog, or on Facebook.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.