Tricks For Good Treats This Halloween

Halloween is a favorite holiday for kids. Costumes, parties, and candy are all part of the fun. But it can be tricky for kids with diabetes. Exercise, food intake and insulin levels need to be balanced for good blood glucose control. Halloween opens a floodgate of tempting goodies that might be hard to resist, especially if other kids are enjoying the bounty.

What can parents do to provide a great Halloween experience?

• Redirect the focus away from bags of candy. Host a party.Your child can help plan the festivities, design costumes and come up with a healthy menu.
• Some Ideas For Halloween Parties.

If your child wants to trick or treat, talk to your child's doctor and work out a game plan to allow some candy into the meal plan for this holiday time. The good thing about Halloween candy is it's long shelf-life.

• Allowing small treats over the course of many days after Halloween is one way to manage an overflowing "stash".
• Some parents "buy" the candy from their trick-or-treater at the end of the evening, exchanging it for money or non-food presents.

Most kids who trick-or-treat know to bring all their candy home for a "safety inspection" before eating any of it. Your child will not be doing anything different by bringing home the bag untouched. Later, while inspecting the goodies for general safety, you can decide with your child which few items they would like to have now and which ones they would like to put away for another time.

Many small Halloween treats are equal to about 15 grams of carbohydrate and can be incorporated here and there for snacks. One fun-size candy bar, a half a pack of M&M's, 3 small Tootsie rolls, 15 Skittles each weigh in at 15 grams of carbs. Joslin's Pediatric and Adolescent Services offers a complete list of 15 gram Halloween treats.

With forethought and inventiveness Halloween can still be a holiday of tricks and treats, with fun for all.