Heart and Halloween

It’s time to ‘Trick-or-treat’! It’s Halloween! October 31st is celebrated as a Halloween Day all around the world. But just because it’s a festive day doesn't mean that you can ignore the health of your heart. So, let’s celebrate a healthy Halloween this time and always.

It is said that this is the time when the souls of the dead visit our world. Traditionally, this day is celebrated by playing ‘Trick-or-treat’. Children dress-up like ghosts, witches, skeletons, and devils and go from house to house and ask for treats, saying, ‘Trick-or-treat?’ meaning, if you give no treat they will trick and trouble you or your property and people generally offer candies and sweets to these little ghosts and devils!

So, even if you are having a plan to just walk the neighborhood or a party at your home with the school friends or neighborhood, make sure you don’t compromise with your or your child’s health.

Here are some tips to make this Halloween full of fun yet healthy for you and your family…

Trick-or-Treaters

• Let your kid have a healthy meal before going for trick-or-treat. So that they will not overindulge or be tempted to snack while walking as their tummies will be full.
• Find a small sized collection bag for your children and still if they are full of candies, try the following tips:
• Put them in the fridge and when your kid asks for a piece of it, pair it with some healthy snack like an apple and some healthy nuts or celery
• Some dentist offices buy back these candies from their patients; lookout for this option as well
• Save it; you can use those for holiday baking
• Recycle it; use it in for your child’s arts and crafts project
• Throw it! And make sure you don’t buy the half priced candies after Halloween
• Get some exercise; decide how many houses you will walk to and then stick to the plan and walk!
• Safety first; try and stay in groups when trick-or-treating. Do not let your kid walk up to a house alone. Keep a watchful eye.
• Use sidewalks and crosswalks on the streets
• Keep a flash light with you
• Only go to houses with the porch light on
• Inspect candies before letting children to eat it
• Be back on the way to home before it gets dark

Stay-at-Home fans

It’s okay even if you don’t pass out candies on Halloween. Start a new and healthier tradition on your street. You can think of some healthier and useful version of treats like:

• Juice boxes
• Mini boxes of raisins
• Snack sized pretzels
• Clementine oranges painted like Jack-O-Lanterns
• Pre-packaged trail mixes
• Stickers
• Tooth brushes
• Pre-packaged dried fruits
• Crayons
• Coupons to local frozen yogurt stores
• Plastic spiders
• Bubbles

With the growing problem of children getting obese, it is necessary to keep healthy eating habits from a very young age as those habits will serve them well in the future.

Do not stress yourself out or scare children. Food safety at Halloween is a guideline system to make the day full of fun but safe.

Who said ‘trick-or-treating’ or ‘Halloween’ is all about candies? The idea is to be safe, careful, and smart to keep your heart and body healthy!

To get healthy tips read our official blog.