UF/IFAS nutrition professor can give advice about children's Halloween candy intake

October 17, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida nutrition expert Linda Bobroff has this Halloween advice for parents: Let your children eat candy — just don’t overdo it.

Bobroff, a professor and Extension nutrition specialist with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, advises parents to have a plan for their children’s Halloween candy consumption, and to be sure children know the rules well before their trick-or-treat bags and buckets are brimming with sugar-laden treats.

She advises parents to look carefully at their children’s Halloween goodies, checking for and discarding any foreign objects, unwrapped or otherwise suspicious-looking candies, but also to discard any candy that children just aren’t excited about eating.

And while Bobroff says it’s OK for children to enjoy some candy the night of a Halloween party or right after trick-or-treating, in the days following the holiday, parents should limit their children to just one or two pieces of candy (assuming they are bite-sized pieces). If parents get lucky, she said, children will forget about the Halloween candy cache within a few days.

It’s good to remember, Bobroff says, that just as children weigh less than adults, their caloric needs are less, too. So if a child’s weight suggests that he or she only needs to consume 1,200 calories in a day, just a few small candies could add up to one-quarter of those daily calories, which crowds out other nutrient-rich foods. Parents of children with special dietary needs may need to further restrict the amount of sweets their children consume or find other ways to celebrate the Halloween holiday.

Bobroff, a faculty member in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, earned a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College and holds master’s and doctorate degrees in nutrition from Rutgers University. She also is a registered dietitian.

She can be reached at 352-273-3521 or by email at bobroff@ufl.edu.