How to Make Halloween Fun and Prevent Cavities

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By pepper0617
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Halloween is coming soon; the children always look forward to dressing up in their Halloween costumes and taking part in their school parade with their friends; all dressed up in their favorite characters. We want the children to have fun and not put a damper on it, but Halloween is always a concern because of tooth decay with all the candy and treats for Halloween. One of the biggest health concerns is tooth decay, especially during the Halloween season.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Trick or treat bag
Candy
Halloween Costume
Parent

Step 1

trick or treat

Limit Treats

Halloween can still be fun for kids even with limitations. You can limit how many treats your children eat from their trick or treat bag or even handing out candy, so they won’t have so much sugar.

* Give your children limits to how much Halloween treats they will be able to eat before the go out trick-or-treating.

* Eat dinner before trick or Halloween activities so the kids won’t be so apt to want to fill up on candy.

* There are alternatives to candy. You can still celebrate Halloween without all the sweet treats. Give them individual packages with raisins, licorice, or pretzels. There are non candy items like gift certificates to McDonalds, stickers, play dough, and tattoos.

* Make sure you sort the Halloween candy. Sort chewy candies first as they stick to their teeth and can do the most damage.

* Supervise the children while their having fun, but always encourage healthy choices. Only allow the children to have a small amount of sweets each day. Set aside some small treats to have with a healthy meal.
Step 2

lighted pumkins

Limit Sugar Intake

With Halloween comes candy. You just have to learn to limit the amounts of sugar the kids are consuming during the Halloween trick or treating time.

- Limit what they eat every day, not just for the holidays. Sometimes parents don’t realize how much sugar their kids are already consuming, until they take a closer look at their diet.

- Be careful of the sweet cereals, fruit juices, and snacks. Learn to read nutrition labels.

- Give them healthy kid’s snacks. Offer them snacks that are healthier for them like cut up oranges, fresh apples, carrot sticks. More healthy choices are cheese sticks, cucumber slices, crackers yogurt and granola.

- Limit drinks that are sweetened too, like soda, and fruit drinks which have hidden sugar. Give them milk and water instead to drink.
Give them healthy choices and teach them to enjoy fruits and vegetables.

- Make eating healthier fun for them by being creative with their food. Decorate a fruit platter, or make a vegetable tray and let them take part in the decorating fun.
Step 3

halloween costumes

Teach Healthy Dental Hygiene

Eating less sugar is just the first step; they still have to take care of their teeth while they are young. Help them to keep their teeth healthy all year long.

Two minutes of brushing teeth is needed twice a day, so they get rid of that dental build up of bacteria, plaque and sugar and have a good looking smile to look forward to. Parents should brush their children’s teeth every morning, and every night before they go to sleep.

After age 2 it is recommended to use fluoride toothpaste to prevent cavities. Sprinkle a small amount on toothbrush being careful not to swallow.

Make sure children visit the dentist at least once a year.

Comments

kinderhook said

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on 10/27/2009 Proper brushing, with nothing further to eat after the bedtime brushing, will help prevent cavities; too much sugar in the diet can actually encourage tooth decay from inside the tooth--that can't be brushed away. Adults need to model a sparing consumption of sweets. I used to go out with a pillowcase to gather my treats; adding 1 treat to my lunchbox each day made that last until spring.