{"id":7690,"date":"2013-10-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/the-trick-to-treating\/"},"modified":"2013-10-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T00:00:00","slug":"the-trick-to-treating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/togethercounts.com\/es\/the-trick-to-treating\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trick to Treating"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Costumes, spooky music, being out after dark and your favorite candy\u2026there\u2019s a lot for a child to love about Halloween.\u00a0 For parents, many are looking for ways to strike the right balance when it comes to the treat part of trick or treat.<\/p>\n

Although Halloween costumes may be scary, parents should not fear Halloween, it is the perfect time of year to begin practicing moderation and mindfulness in eating treats.\u00a0 At the end of October, beyond the pumpkin patch, the treating season continues with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year\u2019s right around the corner. The holiday season is a great opportunity to teach kids about the Together CountsTM<\/sup> program and the importance of achieving energy balance \u2013 balancing the calories you eat with the calories burned through physical activity.<\/p>\n

Parents may believe that restricting treats is the best option; however, behavioral research tends to disagree.\u00a0 The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics encourages a policy of the total diet, which includes treats in moderation.1<\/sup> Food restrictions, whether self-imposed or imposed by another, can often result in the unintended consequence of increasing the desire for the restricted food and the likelihood of overeating.2-4<\/sup><\/p>\n

Here are a few tips about how to allow kids to have treats and teach behaviors that reduce overeating:<\/p>\n