Halloween doesn't have to be candy binge to be fun holiday

CHICAGO -- Offer apples to trick-or-treaters and risk having your house get egged -- maybe even by your own children.

But dentists and dietitians say you can still make Halloween reasonably healthy for little devils and witches without resorting to draconian tactics, like no candy.

"This is such a big adventure for them -- let them have it, obviously with some caveats," said Dr. Rhea Haugseth, a dentist in Marietta, Ga., who's president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry

There are tricks for keeping Halloween fun without risking cavities and extra pounds, like handing out dark chocolate instead of chewy candies or even bribing children with a toy in exchange for the Halloween loot. Some studies have suggested dark chocolate is good for the heart, and chewy candies stick to the teeth.

Just don't go overboard on restrictions, said Cole Robbins, a Chicago 12-year-old and Halloween veteran.

"Halloween is the one day of the year where we kids just kind of break out and overload on candy," he said.

To help prevent that kind of gorging, try to give children a healthy, filling meal before trick-or-treating, said Bethany Thayer, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association who works at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

Procrastinators, take heart. Thayer also recommends waiting until Halloween day before buying candy, so no one is tempted to indulge beforehand.

"I know people who have to go back to the store because they've completely gone through their candy" before Halloween, she said.

Haugseth suggested avoiding cavity-promoting treats like caramels that stick to the teeth, or lollipops that bathe teeth in a long sugary bath.

Also, having children brush their teeth before trick-or-treating helps reduce plaque and bacteria, which interact with sugar to produce tooth-decaying acid, Haugseth said. Kids should also brush right after eating candy, she said.

Ronni Litz Julien, a Miami nutritionist whose patients include overweight and obese children, said another trick for parents is to ask children not to dip into their loot bags until they bring it all home. That's for safety, so parents can toss any suspicious-looking candy, but it also can prevent an "eating frenzy."

She suggests parents help sort through the loot, have children select their 10 favorite pieces, and give the rest away. Offer the choice of eating all 10 pieces at once, or over 10 days. That gives them a sense of control, without feeling shortchanged, she said.

"You can't deprive them. It's Halloween, for God's sake," she said.

Dr. Janet Silverstein, a Gainesville, Fla. pediatrician and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' nutrition committee, said she doesn't give out candy, offering fruit or pencils instead; so far her house is unscathed.

When her own children were young, Silverstein would buy their candy for a nickel per piece. She recommends that to her patients' parents, too, though not necessarily her other solution -- she used to eat her children's candy.

Parents who plan to encourage giving up candy should be sure not to take it right away, said Brian Wansink, a Cornell University food behavior scientist and author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think."

That's because of a psychology principle called "the endowment effect." It refers to children feeling a sense of ownership and putting a high value on candy they haul in.

If you let them eat several pieces first, that feeling can fade and they won't even feel hungry anymore. That's the time to offer a trade, Wansink said.

He's tried that trick with his own three daughters, aged 2, 4 and 6, and said "it works like a charm." His girls eagerly give up the rest of their Halloween candy in exchange for a new trinket or other toy that won't rot their teeth, he said.

Young children aren't really aware of how much they brought home, and when "they sort of count their booty, that's probably the age where kids shouldn't be trick or treating anymore," he said.

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American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry: http://www.aapd.org

American Dietetic Association: http://www.eatright.org ------

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner