The Ying and Yang of Halloween

The Ying and Yang of Halloween

Trick or Treat time. Once again many of us are plagued by the ying yang of what to do. Give out candy, which perpetuates poor health and health habits, or give out something healthy that kids will likely throw away. I have two suggestions. One is to give out non-food items. There are many inexpensive and small items kids like to have. Try temporary tattoos, shiny rocks, shells, pencils, erasers, small rubber balls, glow sticks, stickers or even coins. If you are feeling creative, make something yourself. Give each child one or two pieces of origami paper and directions to make an animal. Buy a book of Mad Libs or crossword puzzles. Give each child a page of the book, rolled up with a ribbon. You can even make your own mad lib or crossword puzzle. Find the directions to a unique paper airplane and attach them to the appropriate size piece of paper.

If you want to give out candy type items I recommend sticking with real food. By real food I mean nuts, seeds, dried fruit (with no sugar added), honey based treat (as opposed to high fructose corn syrup) and popcorn. Buy small individual serving size bags of sunflower seeds, nuts or pumpkin seeds; or bag them yourself. There are several different brands of sesame honey candy available. Even peanut brittle is real food; nuts and sugar. Dried fruit such as raisins, mango and berries are widely available, but also may require you bagging them in small sizes.

Popcorn is great for kids. If you like you can pop it yourself and give it out warm in small bags. The children can eat it as they walk from house to house. You can also give out small bags of unpopped popcorn kernels with directions on how to pop it on the stove top with oil. Many children think popcorn needs to be micro waved and are amazed that it can be popped in a pot. Please do not give out microwave popcorn, the bag liners have carcinogenic ingredients that escape into the popcorn when heated. Also, flavored popcorn usually has high levels of food coloring, artificial flavors and salt. Another corn based real food is dried corn kernels. These also come in small snack bags.

Although honey is just pure sugar, it is a natural real food. Purchase honey in small plastic tubes. Also, the amount of honey in the tubes is very small, but kids love to suck it out. You might consider serving real apple cider on Halloween night, let the kids and adults drink it at your home. Warm the cider if it is cold on Halloween night. Hot chocolate, made with real milk, may also be appreciated in some areas of the country. So enjoy, and have a great, guilt free evening.

School Potlucks

Fried Chicken, more fried chicken, pizza, fried chicken, fried chicken and more fried chicken. That's what entrees were available at the potluck for my child's class last week. I know people are busy and don't have time or want to cook. I know that store bought or take out is more convenient and I have no problem with this. But I also know that there are plenty of store bought and take out opportunities that are a lot healthier than fried chicken.

If asked to donate books to the school, I doubt that these parents would choose poorly written stories or books portraying anti-social or illegal activities as desirable outcomes. They want the best for their children (this was a potluck at a private school)and will complain if they believe their child is not getting the best available. So why do they choose fried chicken?

I wonder what these parents are thinking when they purchased all of this chicken. I don't know all of these parents well, but as a group they are educated and upper middle class or above. It never ceases to surprise me that when we try to provide the best for our children, nutrition is often over looked.

These parents want the school to provide positive role models for their children. They want the best teachers, the most current technology, plus theatre, sports, dance, art, foreign language, advanced placement classes, international studies and travel opportunities, and healthy food at the cafeteria. They want recycling, volunteering opportunities,and college ready young adults at graduation. I am all for this, but I also see that I have a role to play as well. It is my job to model appropriate food choices by providing nourishing food. I know potlucks are parties and are for fun--but let's also remember that we are always influencing our kids, even through our food choices.

Seven Steps to Creating a Healthy Eater

We nourish our children, hoping that our children are receiving the nutrients that will allow their bodies to grow to their healthiest potential. Our intentions are admirable, but at times we become too concerned with the details and lose sight of the goal. We suddenly become desperate for our child to eat one more bite of broccoli, as if this bite determines health or illness. Other times we make sweeping rules for ourselves and families, such as "we are never going to eat chocolate again." Most likely this doesn't last and we feel like we are failing as a parent.

Creating a healthy eater is about the big picture. Over the past month did I or my family eat a variety of healthy foods (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs, beans, low fat meats, fish, nuts and seeds)? Was more that half of what we ate real, whole foods? Did I allow my family to:

1.Eat when they are hungry

2.Stop eating when they are sated (full)

3.Eat mostly healthy foods

4.Eat some fun foods

Did I not encourage my family to eat to

5.Please others

6.Avoid something

7.Receive something

These are the 7 tenants to creating a healthy eater. We should only eat when we are hungry, not to get something, avoid something, or please someone else. Are you forcing your child to eat for the wrong reasons? The promise of dessert if a child eats one more bite is the wrong reason to eat. The threat of a punishment for not trying a new food is not a healthy incentive to eating.

Did you allow for the enjoyment of some fun foods? Fun foods are also part of the diet of a healthy eater. I person constantly deprived of fun foods, or offered fun foods only are a reward (bribe) will likely become overly concerned with having these foods. The perceived deprivation many times leads to over-indulgence in these foods when the eater is allowed to make their own food choices. As many fun foods are high in sugar and fat, this over-indulgence can lead to over weight. Moderation and mindful eating are the goals for eating all foods, including those that are just for fun.