Holidays and Sugar
Halloween has come and gone, yet the candy lingers. We know the amount of sugar presented to kids at this holiday and most is absurd, and we know that excess sugar leads to tooth decay and a whole host of other issues (you can read about : Ten Ways Sugar is Hurting Your Kids ). Unfortunately, many of our American traditions involve copious amounts of sugar!
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Birthdays = Cake
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Easter = Chocolate Eggs & Jelly Beans
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Christmas = Cookies & Candies
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Independence Day = BBQ (full of sugar!) & Ice Cream
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Thanksgiving = Pumpkin Pie
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And of course, Halloween = Candy
Learning Moderation: Spacing out the candy stash for a specific amount of time can help parents keep within the 3-6 teaspoons of sugar a day recommended by the American Heart Association*. The typical U.S. child eats around 20 or more teaspoons a day, so getting your kids within the recommended amounts most likely means you will have to take sugar out of the rest of your kids meals and snacks. Think: no juice, no soda, no sugar snacks, no honey, no syrup those days. This might be hard, but it will teach not only moderation, but also trade-offs, which are a big part of life.
Giving/Sharing: Keeping only the candy your children really love, and giving the rest away, will reward them twofold: First, the brain enjoys things more when it is not overwhelmed by too many choices and when the so-so options are weeded out. (We actually get less enjoyment when our candy stashes are peppered with mediocre candies.) Give away any candy that is not in your kids’ top 10 sweets, and they will be even happier with what is left. Second, giving candy away will also teach charity and sharing.
Premier Dental is hosting their 4th annual Halloween Candy Buy Back on November 6th, 2017. Kids are encouraged to bring in their candy and receive cash and register for prizes. The candy is donated to the U.S. service men and women! It’s a definite win-win. Premier Dental has also partnered with two local schools, Rohwer Elementary and Sandoz Elementary to collect candy and donate the money to the school. The kids get a prize for donating, the school earns money and the candy is out of the hands/mouths of kids.