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By
Dr. Joseph Mercola
with Rachael Droege
Halloween is just around the corner and I bet the first thing
on everyone’s mind as they scramble to put together last-minute
costumes and carve their yearly pumpkin is not the rising
numbers of overweight children in the country--not to mention
their overweight parents.
But perhaps it should be. There is more money spent on Halloween
than every other holiday except Christmas. After all the decorations,
costumes and candy have been purchased, Americans have doled
out close to $7 billion, and about $2 billion of that goes
to candy alone.
Certainly there is fun to be had on Halloween without the
need for sugary junk foods, but as kids and parents head out
to trick-or-treat--the main event of the holiday for many--what
is on their minds is the candy. And as the kids return home,
the more candy they’ve gotten, the happier they’ll
be.
Then will begin the yearly struggle that many parents face--how
to keep the kids from eating way too much sugar. Of course,
you want your kids to be happy, so you let them have a few
pieces, or overeat and learn the consequences on their own,
or perhaps for months to come you’ll hand your children
a couple of pieces of their stash as a ‘treat.’
Unfortunately, this is just how the cycle begins. Halloween
is a perfect example of how we use sweets, candy and baked
goods as rewards. As children, we don’t think about much
other than how it tastes, but parents often give children
candy when they’ve been on good behavior, after they’ve
‘earned it’ with good grades, or scored a goal on
their soccer team.
It’s no wonder that many children are becoming obese,
which leads to other health issues like type 2 diabetes that
once was an adult disease and is now showing up in young children,
and are falling into the same trap that got their parents--the
sweets/food-as-reward trap.
Once this cycle begins we all know how hard it is to break.
I’ve devoted a section in my book "The
No-Grain Diet" to this emotional addiction to foods
that is so widespread among Americans. It can be overcome,
I’ve seen many patients have excellent results with tools
like EFT, but it is much
easier to avoid the trap to begin with.
And as a parent, you can help your child to grow up without
needing food as an emotional outlet--and Halloween is a great
time to start. Here are some great options to avoid the sweets-as-reward
trap this Halloween:
- Plan a Halloween party so that your kids won’t miss
trick-or-treating. Center it around Halloween-themed activities
like decorating pumpkins, having a costume contest, telling
scary stories or putting on a haunted house.
- If your kids insist on trick-or-treating, offer them the
choice of ‘trading in’ their candy for a small
toy or special outing.
- Don’t give candy to trick-or-treaters. Instead, hand
out Halloween-themed pencils, pens, erasers or notepads,
whistles, bouncy balls, small toys and games or coins.
- Pumpkin
seeds are a great Halloween food.
If you’re a parent who is struggling with an addiction
to sweets that was formed during childhood, there are ways
to break your addiction. As I mentioned above, EFT, a psychological
acupressure tool is extremely effective to not only address
the underlying emotional cause of the addiction, but also
to help curb food cravings that can sabotage your attempts
at a nutritious diet. You can
check out my free EFT manual
for more information.
And remember, Halloween can be a fun way to spend time with
your family and friends. Focus your fun on activities and
sharing time with the people around you, not on sugary foods
that will ultimately compromise your health, and you’ll
have a real Halloween to remember.
Related Articles:
Yes, You Can
Become Addicted to Sugar
124 Ways
Sugar Can Ruin Your Health
How to Prevent,
or Reverse, Childhood Obesity
Epidemic of Children
are Getting Adult Diabetes
$2 Billion Spent
on Easter Candy: Are the Smiles Worth the Risks to Children?
Excessive Sugar
Consumption Can Ruin Your Body
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