By Catherine Hansen

TYH: Healthy Halloween Eating

Oct 31, 2017 | 11:22 PM

This Halloween will no doubt bring plenty of treats for the little ghouls and goblins, but what are the limits when it comes to eating all those sugary snacks? On today’s To Your Health, Catherine Hansen has more on how to keep health in mind while enjoying all those goodies.

(Announcer:) And now, “To Your Health”. Brought to you by Hart Drugs, Third Avenue Pharmacy and the Phoenix Pharmacy.

(Reporter Catherine Hansen:) Trick or treating can bring an endless amount of candy, and for some little ones, the question remains – how much is too much?

(Flo Sheppard – Northern Health, Dietician:) “I think we need to remember Halloween is a rite of passage, what child doesn’t love Halloween. It’s the time to dress up, it’s the time to go around the neighborhood with your friends and to bring back a loot bag full of treats, so definitely it is a rite of passage. I think it’s about keeping Halloween in balance, really, and apporoaching Halloween in a really appropriate way that we don’t make it a bigger deal than it needs to be.”

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(Hansen:) Sheppard recommends taking away the mystery and excitement of treats, and handling them as other food. She says healthy eating includes a variety of good-for-you and good-tasting food.  The goal is to allow children to listen to their bodies, and learn to manage their own treats.

(Sheppard:) “Let your child eat as much as they want that night, and the next day. And then after that if we think about it from a calendar perspective, on November 2, we might say ‘ok it’s time to put the treats away’, and then they only come out as snacks and at mealtime.”

(Hansen:) If you are looking to get rid of the loot altogether, Dr Terah Albertson with Timber Ridge Dental Clinic is offering to pay one dollar per pound of candy the day after Halloween.  Dr Albertson will buy up to ten pounds from each child, and in turn donate the candy to Canadian military overseas.

(Dr Terah Albertson – Timber Ridge Dental Clinic:) “Basically it’s for parents who would like another option, instead of having their kids eat all their candy.  They can come into the office and we pay them a dollar per pound for candy, up to ten pounds. It’s just nice for those kids, some people have allergies, they can’t eat the candy.  A lot of parents don’t want them eating all the candy.”

(Hansen:) And if you do indulge, be sure to brush and floss you or your little ones’ teeth afterwards, as sugar is one of the easiest ways to develop cavities. To your health, Catherine Hansen, CKPG News.