Take the focus off store bought candy that is full of unhealthy ingredients by making homemade treats!

• • Click here for a recipe for homemade Salted Caramels
  • These imitation Twix bars are vegan, gluten free, AND paleo!
  • What about homemade Almond Joy’s!

Use smaller trick-or-treat bags. By giving your kids a smaller bag or container, it will seem filled up more quickly! No child needs to consume pounds and pounds of candy. Obesity in children can lead to a multitude of health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. By eliminating overindulgences of candy, you can help your child’s overall health in the short term AND long term. If they receive a large amount of candy for Halloween, only allow a few pieces a day. This way they do not over indulge sugar and the candy will last longer!

Eliminate regular dessert when there is candy consumption If your kids receive large amounts of candy, this should take the place of any regular dessert. Remind them of appropriate serving sizes of sugar per day based on the food pyramid.

Give out toys instead of candy. Try and switch it up and hand out fun toys instead of unhealthy candy! Here are a few ideas of candy alternatives for trick-or-treaters!

• • Stickers
  • Bubbles
  • Glow Sticks
  • Whistles
  • Kazoos
  • Crayons/Coloring Books
  • Comics
  • Silly Glasses
  • And more! (try checking out the local 99 cents store!)

Try real fruit juiced based candy such as fruit snacks! Most kids love fruit snacks just as much as candy! You can even make your own from scratch with this recipe.

Halloween can still be a blast without so much focus on unhealthy candy. Make sure to talk with your kids about how over consumption of sugary treats can affect their healthy and hurt their little bellies! If you have any questions or concerns about heart health or making an appointment with a cardiologist, please contact our office Beverly Hills Cardiology located in Beverly Hills