Post-Halloween Candy: Wondering What to do with it all?

Post-Halloween Candy:  What to do with it all.  4 Tips from Intuitive Feeding to help cultivate a healthy relationship with food.

1. Pick favorites
   1. Let the kids divvy up their candy into two piles, one pile with the candies they like and another pile with the candy they don't. It will teach them the importance of identifying the foods that they enjoy. Donate the less favorite candies.
      • Drop in centers
      • Food Banks
      • Seniors centers
2. Reducing restriction:

If we restrict candy it causes Kids and adults to eat more! When we have forbidden foods they always taste better and become more desired and we find ourselves wanting and fixating on these foods.

Tips: Create structure. Have 3 balanced meals at pre-set times and snacks between meals at pre-determined times. Do what works best for your family.

Avoid candy bargaining: Avoid the use of dessert as a way for kids to eat more of their supper food. Allow your child to eat the amount they want from what is being served.  It’s the child’s job to know how much they eat and if they eat.  The parent's job is to decide what food to eat and when.

Remain neutral around food: Avoid language of good foods/bad foods/ fear foods, this will only create stress and backlash. Negative food feelings increase binge like behaviours and food obsession.

Treats: These foods should have structure like meals and snacks.  Determining frequency is important.  Figure out what works best for your family or work with a dietitian to see what can work best.  I typically would offer sweets after a family lunch meal regardless of how much your child ate.  They are very good at regulating hunger and if treats are a part of the families regulars meals they become less of a novelty item.  I think you will be surprised at how kids will begin to regulate with autonomy and being neutral around all foods.

Enjoy:  Enjoy the Halloween candy, try and remove the fear that your child will be addicted to sugar. The more regularly it is around the less likely it will be used in unhealthy/binge like ways.

3. Do a science experiment. Here are some ideas:
   1. http://www.readingconfetti.com/2013/10/sink-or-float-candy-science.html
   2. https://confidencemeetsparenting.com/tootsie-roll-pops-making-math-and-science-yummy/
   3. https://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/candy-science-kids-mm-experiment/
4. Incorporate it into another snack.
   1. Add it To Another Snack: Get the kids to pack their snacks adding candies to a dry cereal, trail mix, paring it with some veggies and fruit.
   2. Freeze it: Add it to milkshakes, cookie dough, cake batter, gingerbread house.
   3. Piñata Party: Host a party, fill a piñata and send the candy home with others

Your Feeding Team,

Leslie & Stephanie