Have A Happy & Healthy Halloween!

Autumn is a season with a little something for everyone: mild days with crisp nights, the start of football season, corn mazes, apple picking, and, of course, all things back-to-school. Somewhere in there, Halloween takes center stage for many people as the unofficial kick-off to the fast-approaching holiday season.

While Halloween’s sweet treat indulgences are certainly something fun to look forward to, it is important to keep in mind that excess added sugar has been linked to multiple health issues, particularly obesity. This begs the question: What is a health-conscious Halloween enthusiast to do?

We have some tips, tricks and even treats to help you make the most out of your Halloween fun while keeping a healthful eye on what you consume.

Be Creative with Party Snacks – Not everything has to be 100% healthy for a Halloween spread – let’s face it, we all need a piece of candy occasionally – but providing healthy alternatives is a great way to encourage healthy eating and to help avoid over-indulging on candy.

• BOO-nanas: skewer half of a banana onto a popsicle stick, dip it in orange juice, roll it in shredded coconut, and press on raisins for eyes and mouths. Here is a great tutorial
• Spooky Apple Dentures: use a small smear of peanut butter to hold together 2 apple wedges and decorate them with mini marshmallows or almonds for teeth
• Devilish dip and vegetable bones: give a normal crudité platter a Halloween twist by arranging vegetables to look like a skeleton, and maybe even adding carrot fingers to a healthy dip recipe like this

Find Trick-or-Treat Alternatives – For the health-conscious parents looking to shake up their Halloween treats, we have put together a list of healthy, Halloween-inspired treats that can be given away instead of candy:

• Jack O’Lantern oranges: Simply draw Jack O’Lantern faces onto the outside of oranges, tangerines or even fruit cups to add a little Halloween flair to these healthy snacks
• Mummy apples: Wrap pieces of non-stick gauze tape around a Granny Smith apple and add edible eyes to make this spooky snack
• Or, stock up on non-food items     like temporary tattoos, stickers, spider rings, spooky skull erasers, skeleton pencils, and other such items to give away in lieu of the traditional trick-or-treat candy

Indulge (a little) – Go ahead, indulge, but do so in moderation. Have a piece of candy and enjoy it. The main key here is moderation. Indulging a sweet tooth in moderation can help to control the urge to binge eat on all the readily available Halloween candy.