Tips to Parents On How to Curb Your Child's Candy Consumption

Pity poor parents worldwide.

"With candy being universally available and regularly within sight of children, what is a parent to do? How do you combat its influence on your children? How do you lessen the influence of advertisers and get candy consumption under control in your family? How can you win the candy wars?"

Writers Chick Moorman and Thomas Haller, co-authors of The 10 Commitments: Parenting with Purpose, pose these questions in their article, "Winning the Candy Wars," which appears on the website of the Westchester Coalition of Better School Food.

They then offer a number of helpful suggestions to help you curb your children's candy consumption, including not using candy as a reward, helping your kids create an inner authority, and viewing candy as a wonderful opportunity to set limits with your children. Click here to read the full article.

Comments

[Corey-Jan]

We typically do not keep sugar in the house -- and we avoid all the white processed stuff. Our strategy to limit Halloween candy only works if you initiate it when the kids are very young. But it works for us. The rule is that each child gets to keep and eat the number of pieces as old as he/she is. So, my 7 year old gets to keep 7 pieces. My 13 year old gets to keep 13. Then, the next day (or later that week), we bring the rest of the haul to the Children's Hospital, "for the kids who were too sick to go trick or treating." I know that they won't actually give the candy to the kids -- most likely the nurses and staff will eat it or throw it out. But the thought is there -- and it's become the expectation around here.

[Squashua]

How about giving out Comic Books for Halloween instead of Candy? Here's a guide: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30496#16