Halloween is the spookiest time of the year & we have learned to love the creepy traditions of dressing up & going out. However, this Halloween ghost & ghouls aren’t the only things you should be afraid of! Candy is the sweetest part of Halloween but is known to have some very bad side effects on children. Read more to see how much candy your child should consume on Halloween.
How much candy should A child have?
As we know a child body is very vulnerable as they go through their, adolescence. Studies show that a child will eat about 7,000 calories on Halloween. These calories have about 675 grams of sugar, the average amount of sugar for a child is 35 grams! We are not telling you to take candy away from your child on Halloween, however, try using some low sugar candies instead. Some example is:
- Coconut butter cups
- Pretzels
- unreal Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
- Good bites classic macaroons
What can too much candy do?
Too much candy can cause a lot of health problems later in life for your child. When you see a child that has begun their “sugar high” this is the process of when the body has exceeded its amount of sugar needed so it decides to start burning off some. As funny as this may be for a child, unfortunately, this is a sign the body is having a bad reaction to the sugar intake. After the “sugar high” has ended you will notice that a child will feel sluggish, cranky & have a loss of appetite. If continued candy abuse is used the body can be considered prediabetic. Pre-diabetic means the body cannot produce sugar & carbohydrates correctly. If you become prediabetic & then go on an eating binge of candy this can switch over to diabetes in the same day.
What should you as a parent do?
We all want to see our kids laugh & enjoy the holidays as they should! One night of unhealthy eating can slide for the sake of a holiday, however, making sure your kids don’t eat candy past 8 p.m can help with their sugar intake. Also, make sure to give your kids a lot of water & healthy food the following day to balance out the candy! We here at Instant Urgent Care would like to wish you all a happy Halloween!