Mixed Feelings on Halloween

ARTHUR VIDRO
On Consumerism
One week until Halloween.

Halloween brings to mind plenty of pleasant images. The crunch of autumn leaves being stepped on. The not-too-hot yet not-too-cold temperatures. Some truly amazing costumes and lawn decorations.

But ask most dentists about Halloween and they’ll tell you it’s a factor in childhood tooth decay. So I feel guilty tossing junk food into kids’ bags.

I wish I could hand out healthy treats.

Fifty years ago, when I retired from trick-or-treating, some households still distributed healthy edibles. Such as apples.

But nowadays, unless an item is in a hermetically sealed container affixed in a factory, children are taught by parents to throw away the item.

The demand is for fun food. Which usually means teeth-rotting food.

I’ve lost a couple teeth myself to my childhood and young-adult preference for jaw breakers. If there is one food you should not give out to kids, it is jaw breakers. That’s a perfect tooth-decay food. Each one nestles between an upper molar and a lower molar while the kid chomps on it, which results in sugar doing its destructive work at the most direct and vulnerable spots.

Very chewy sweets, such as taffies and caramels, also lend themselves to excessive tooth decay.

Nowadays there isn’t much you can toss into a trick-or-treat bag that is good for kids. Oh, maybe small packages of nuts or raisins. Still, with a little hunting, one can find healthier – or at least less-harmful – snacks instead.

Like a tiny box of pretzels. A bag of corn chips or potato chips or popcorn. Or a Rice Krispie treat. A package of sugarless chewing gum. Maybe trail mix. Or a little package of cookies – but remember, it has to be factory-packaged, not something you package at home. The latter will get trashed, untouched, per the rules of today.

But most kids will still scream for chocolate or sugar-centric sweets.

If you must distribute chocolate, at least select the less harmful varieties. Such as ordinary Hershey bars, Nestle Crunch bars, Kit Kats, or a fun size bag of M&Ms.

Avoid the gooey or chewy chocolates. Spare the kids’ teeth.

Over the years I’ve tried to innovate. Why not give them something fun to read instead of something fun to eat? So I’ve tossed comic books into kids’ bags. Some of them were delighted. Some of them wanted to have me arrested.

Another option I’ve tried – but not on toddlers – is tossing a handful of coins into the bag. Money’s always welcome, and it lets each youngster choose to buy what they most want.

Besides, I have a dish of coins handy anyway, to give out to the one or two trick-or-treaters who present a Unicef box.

Some final tips:

If you are home and giving out treats, make the walkway as well-lit as you can. Also, have coins on hand to feed the Unicef boxes.

If you are not home or not giving out treats, keep everything as dark as possible, to discourage fruitless doorbell-ringing.

Idea: Do any stores carry finger-sized packages of peanut butter? That would be a healthful treat welcomed by kids.