Let’s create Halloween healthy food for children and ourselves. Since ancient times, people have been preparing and eating food to celebrate special occasions.
People love food, and especially on holidays. But they don’t like the consequences of low quality food.
Halloween can be a time of fun and celebration, as well as a candy frenzy. Follow the tips below to avoid the bad consequences of the holiday.
bad food
Low quality food is characterized by the consumption of foods high in fat, salt or sugar. These include processed meats, chips, white bread, and soda. As a result, childhood and youth obesity has nearly tripled in Canada over the past 30 years. Russia may suffer the same misfortune if you do not revise the diet of children’s and teenage nutrition.
Children need to be taught to be picky eaters. It is children and adolescents who are most exposed to the harmful effects of processed foods and fast food. Children’s taste buds change with greater exposure to unhealthy foods. As a result, this can lead to a reluctance to eat healthy food, which will become simply tasteless for children.
Eating unhealthy food wouldn’t be a problem if it happened infrequently. But special occasions and holidays are becoming more frequent. As a result, some schools are seeking to expand healthy food choices and ban unhealthy ones.
Healthy food choices all year round
Interest in changing the eating behavior of children is growing. But families need to be careful. Research shows that a restriction strategy can backfire.
More covert and less controlling approaches are needed. These include more fruits and vegetables on hand. Children cannot eat what is not on the table or in the refrigerator. Just do not buy unhealthy foods to avoid unnecessary arguments and quarrels with your child.
Not just around Halloween, but throughout the year, parents may want their kids to get active in their food choices. Research shows that involving kids in their own food choices can get them to eat right.
Involving children in food preparation induces positive eating behaviors. Children participating in school or community gardens are excited about their new ability to grow food, so they will want to eat more fruits and vegetables. For example, you can attract a child to a country garden.
Healthy crop consumption
Harvest time in the fall is a good time to talk about choosing sustainable diets, eating more whole foods, and reducing food waste.
Children can also participate in the harvest. You can visit farmers markets for fall food choices. Consider Halloween as a time to discuss how kids can help plan and prepare meals for special occasions and holidays.
The Night Before Halloween
Pumpkin carving is an excellent example of active family fun.
The pumpkin boasts its scary face with lanterns inside. But this wonderful fruit also contains a whole range of vitamins and minerals. For example:
vitamins E, A and C,
thiamine,
niacin,
vitamin B6,
folate,
iron,
magnesium and phosphorus.
Pumpkin is a good source of dietary fiber. Pumpkin puree can be made into delicious soups or curries, as well as pie or muffins.
Pumpkin seeds are healing!
These tiny green seeds are rich in antioxidants, iron, zinc and magnesium. Pumpkin seeds are also high in protein, up to 25 grams. per 100 gr.
If you’re making a flashlight pumpkin the night before Halloween, you may have more time to separate the pumpkin seeds from the pulp and have the kids roast the pumpkin seeds.
And if you cook Halloween dinner the night before, that will also give you more time to cook quality food. Thus, there is less chance that children will rush to eat sweets on an empty stomach. Of course, Halloween is celebrated in Russia differently than in the US and Canada. For us, this is not a home holiday. But if you are celebrating Halloween at home, try to keep your kids away from junk food and avoid fast foods.
