What to do with all the trick-or-treating loot your kids will drag home tonight? Fear not, there are ways to let your kids enjoy it without overindulging.
In a helpful piece appearing in the Los Angeles Times on Monday, writer Jessica Pauline Ogilvie offers parents sensible advice from the experts.
A few highlights:
- You don’t grocery shop on an empty stomach, and the same goes for trick or treating. Fill your kids up with nutritious food before going door-to-door, so they don’t come home ravenous for candy.
- Set the rules before you head out: let kids know how long they can trick or treat; set firm limits on how much candy they can collect; and make sure kids know what will happen to it once they get home.
- Don’t let your kids eat their stash all at once. Dole it out in small quantities — perhaps no more than a handful, or 100 calories of sweets — over time.
- To reduce damage to teeth from the sugar, don’t allow children to chow on candy for more than 30 minutes at a time, and make sure they brush their teeth right afterward.
- Get rid of any leftover candy after about a week.
For more info, it’s worth reading the full story here.