Controlling the Halloween Candy Monster

Quite a few years back, we knew a guy in our street who bucked the Halloween candy trend, and instead pulled 20 cent pieces from behind the kids ears. His place was really popular.

No longer is it just about scary costumes and fun with friends and family. The focus seems to be more on who can collect the most sweets. Without wanting to put a damper on this "tradition" maybe we should focus on ways to minimise the possible sugar intake considering that the food industry have made sugar such a regular part of our diets anyway.

We've learned some lessons from food psychology research that might well apply here. For example, we know that people eat less from smaller bowls or plates than larger ones. People judge "how much they have" based on how well it fills up a plate, bowl or cup. We also know that people serve themselves less when they’re dipping or pouring from small containers rather than larger ones.

So, what if we dole out candy from a small bowl rather than a huge cauldron? Maybe kids would take a little less. And if we provide our own kids with smaller containers for collecting goodies, they might be satisfied with less, too. All they really want is to go home with a full container - whatever size it is. So, out with the pillowcases, and bring back the old-school plastic jack-o-lanterns.

The other thing we've learned is that the more variety we’re faced with, the more we’re likely to serve ourselves. We tend to eat more at buffets for this reason. The same should hold true for candy. If you offer the little goblins an array of candy, they're probably going to try to take one of each - and you might feel a twinge of guilt for indulging their gluttony. But limit your offerings to just one type of candy, and it’s more likely they’ll just take one.

You could, of course, buck the candy trend altogether. Pulling coins from behind kids' ears may have lost its appeal, but you could pass out small packs of nuts, colorful stickers, pencils, temporary tattoos, etc. - all guilt-free alternatives to traditional sugar-laden treats.