I know I know, a kid's favorite part of Halloween is the candy. While I am all about letting kids have their fun and enjoy a sweet treat now and again there have to be limits. Once I learned the dangers of Halloween candy I was a bit more weary. Halloween candy is loaded with sugar. While we all know (and hate) those infamous sugar rushes sugar can do more than cause the jitters. Recent studies have shown that giving young children sugar increases their chances of 2 chronic diseases.
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The Dangers Of Halloween Candy That You Should Know About
When I say dangers of Halloween candy I guarantee I know what you are thinking. You are probably thinking about open wrappers and or dangerous items hidden in your child's candy wrapper. Unfortunately we live in a world where we need to carefully inspect all of our children's candy to ensure that it hasn't been tampered with.
However, something else that is unfortunate is that this hidden danger exists in all candy. Even ones that are manufactured correctly and without being tampered with. One of the biggest dangerous of Halloween candy is sugar. The NY Post shares information from a health study that proves that "giving children sugar when they are really young — even in the womb — raises their risk of developing" two chronic diseases.
Those two chronic diseases are high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. While we all knew sugar wasn't good for us, many of us didn't know it was this bad. However, the study shared a promising statistic. If parents work on "limiting exposure in the first 1,000 days of a child's life — from gestation until 2" they are able to reduce the risk of these chronic diseases. For those children who had limited sugar, it "reduced diabetes risk by about 35% and hypertension by 20% and delayed disease onset by four years and two years, respectively."
The Sugar Study
The authors of the study used data collected post World War II because of the sugar rationing. From there, the authors compared "the health outcomes of adults conceived shortly before and after the decade-long rationing ended." The subjects of the study were surveyed in their 50s and 60s.
While the risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension naturally increases with age, there was a noticeable difference in correlation with sugar consumption. The risk of both of these diseases "increased faster among adults with little or no exposure to rationing" with the largest differences being "observed after age 60."
Now I know what you are thinking. Okay, so I just won't give my kid sugar until they are past 2 years old...problem solved. While this study did focus specifically on the events of sugar on young children, it is no secret that sugar negatively impacts us all.
The NY Post shares facts that we all know but tend to overlook. "Eating a lot of sugar can damage cells, causing chronic inflammation, which has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, liver disease and cancer." I am not saying become the sugar police and never let your child eat a Snickers. I am simply saying, as they are excitedly sorting through their Halloween candy, be mindful.
Be aware of how many pieces of candy they eat in a day and how often they are consuming sugars. Also, don't forget that candy is not the only thing that has sugar. Hidden sugars exist in many of our everyday foods. So be aware, be mindful, and watch out for the hidden dangers of your child's Halloween candy and of sugar.
