Healthier Halloween Treats: What a Nutritionist Hands Out
Happy Halloween week, all! This is a recap of the [mostly] healthier Halloween treats that I handed out to the kiddies last year. I hope it provides you with inspiration this year before you buy your treats. My motto is to keep it fun and keep it tasty, so you don’t end up looking like the witch.
And in case you haven’t already heard the news on social media, I recently had a baby! My second: sweet baby Stella. I’m gradually making my way back to blogging between taking care of Stella and myself. More to come on that soon. It feels good to be back with you!
Cheers,
Michelle
Clean Eating Halloween Treats for Preschoolers: What a Nutritionist Hands Out
By Rachel Molina
Last year, Michelle spent Halloween with her 3-year-old daughter at her preschool’s Halloween Trunk or Treat event. Being the registered dietitian she is, Michelle was curious to see which treat they would choose when offered a variety of options – healthy or not. Here’s the breakdown:
Barbie Tattoos (non-food item)
Michelle started with 20 Barbie tattoos and by the end of the event, they were all gone! Tattoos are always sure to be a hit.
Michelle quickly removed the Reese's Peanut Butter cups when she recalled the school's no-peanut policy. Oops.
Wonderful Pistachios: Frankenweenie edition
There were 25 bags of pistachios (Frankenweenie edition) at the beginning of the event and by the end only 3 remained. Kids were nutty about these nutritious snacks!
Michelle bought a big glow stick for her daughter - another good item for handing out if you can find them at a good price. Michelle’s husband purchased the full-sized candies for the evening neighborhood kids only (choose your battles).
M&Ms
Michelle began with 21 mini bags of M&Ms and ended with three. This was a pretty popular item, but not any more popular than the healthier options.
Annie’s Bunny Grahams: 1/2 serving of whole grains per serving
There were 24 packages of Annie’s Bunny Grahams at the start of the event and 20 remained at the end. This was surprising, considering kids typically love these. However, the treats were in opaque packaging and preschoolers can’t read, so we concluded that the kids probably didn’t know what was inside.
Bubbles (non-food item)
The four she purchased quickly disappeared. Could this be the most popular item?
Michelle does peculiar things like take pictures of all of her groceries - she never knows when she'll need them! Including the Natural Health magazine that she appeared in that month.
Nature’s Path EnviroKids Chocolate Crispy Rice Bars: made with brown rice flour and listed as first ingredient
Michelle began with 21 of these and ended with two. Made with brown rice.
The great news about Michelle’s healthy Halloween treat experiment is that it seems like young children are open to enjoying a variety of Halloween treats. This year, you might consider starting a new tradition of passing out healthier alternatives. Michelle’s exercise goes to show you how kids can be just as happy with something fun and festive like Halloween bubbles or tattoos.
What do you hand out on Halloween? Do you think you will try handing out healthier Halloween options this year?
At the time of writing this, Rachel Molina was a dietetic intern on her way to becoming a registered dietitian.
Disclosure: Michelle works closely with Wonderful Pistachios. They did not compensate her to include them in this post.
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TV Nutritionist Shares Healthier Halloween Tricks and Treats
Healthy Grocery Shopping Haul and Pre-Halloween Bonus
Oven Pumpkin Fries with Cumin, Feta Cheese & Pepitas
I'm a chef nutritionist, not the food police. I eat cookies but make sure to eat my broccoli too.
