Ohio State nav bar

Skip to main content

The Ohio State University

  • Help
  • BuckeyeLink
  • Map
  • Find People
  • Webmail
  • Search Ohio State
  • Home
  • Food
  • Family and Relationships
  • Money
  • Mind and Body
  • Webinars
  • Authors

Family and Consumer Sciences

Live Smart Ohio

Ohio State University Extension

Topics:

The Ohio State University
You are here: Home / Family and Relationships / Navigating the Sugar-Coated Holiday Road.

October 31, 2017

Navigating the Sugar-Coated Holiday Road.

The holidays start with Trick-or-Trick, meander past Happy Thanksgiving, sugar-plum skip by Christmas and drop heavily with a Happy New Year feast.  We send our children on a sixty day sugar high with family get togethers, school functions and community events.  According to the National Confectioners’ Association, Americans eat nearly four billion dollars in candy during this holiday season.  This far exceeds the added sugar recommendations established by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  The overload of added sugar contributes to childhood obesity, and places them at-risk of chronic life long diseases.lunch bags and water bottles

What is a parent to do?  Planning is key to celebrating family traditions without sugar overload.

  1. Talk to your school about opting for healthier school party choices.  Instead of candy bars at Halloween try low-fat cheese sticks turned into ghosts by putting eyes and a mouth on the wrapper with a marker.  Water bottles can become reindeers and replace sugary drinks.
  2. Rather than Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood, dress up and go to a corn maze or host a party with a focus on games.
  3. Leave Santa applesauce instead of cookies.
  4. Before heading out to a party, have a healthy meal.  Hungry children tend to eat more junk food.
  5. Make sure there are a lot of healthy finger foods available for your children at family gatherings.  This could be bowls of fruits, cut up veggies with a low-fat dip, and pretzels.
  6. When Trick-or-Treating, limit your route to one block or ten houses.  Using a small container makes the loot look bigger.
  7. Rather than candy canes on the tree, try popcorn strings.

    snail holiday cookie
    Photo by meals.com
  8. Plan family activities that provides physical activity.
  9. Stockings can contain small stickers, tattoos and art supplies rather than candy and cookies.
  10. Be a good role model for your child.  Be aware of your selections and opt for the veggies and limit sugary drinks.

Small changes make a big impact.  Check out the Make Healthier Holiday Choices Tip Sheet(PDF)Links to a PDF document. from MyPlate.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

WRITTEN BY: Yvette Graham, MSW, LISW-S, Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program, Program Specialist, Ohio State University Extension, Stark,

REVIEWED BY: Amy Habig, MPH, RDN, LD, Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program, Program Specialist, Ohio State University Extension, Green County

PHOTO CREDITS:

  • www.meals.com

SOURCES:

  • https://choosemyplate-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/tentips/DGTipsheet32MakeHealthierHolidayChoices.pdf
  • http://U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/

REFERENCES:

  • Mitka M. New Dietary Guidelines Place Added Sugars in the Crosshairs. JAMA. 2016;315(14):1440–1441. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.1321
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at tps://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
  • https://www.candyusa.com/
  • www.choosemyplate.com

Categories: Family and Relationships, Food
Tags: holidays

Avatar for Yvette Graham
Avatar for Yvette Graham

About Yvette Graham

Yvette Graham, LISW-S is an Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) program specialist. She manages EFNEP in five Ohio counties. Before EFNEP, she worked as a licensed independent social worker extensively with at-risk families in child welfare, juvenile justice and chemical dependency. She loves to spend time with her family and travel.

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

Loving Kindness chart from self to world

Cultivating Loving-Kindness

Exploring the Heart of It All webinar series presented in Autumn 2024

pages of open book shaped into a heart

Making Every Day Sweet

I will serve 2024MLK

Unite, Serve, and Transform on MLK Day to Create the Beloved Community

Follow Us!

  • Facebook

Footer

Need Assistance?

If you are having issues logging into the site, need assistance with updates, or need to request an alternate format please send an email to the EHE Service Desk at servicedesk@ehe.osu.edu stating the nature of your issue and we will assist you. Thank you.
Are you a Live Smart Ohio Author? Log in here!

Categories

  • Food
  • Family and Relationships
  • Money
  • Mind and Body
  • Webinars

Follow us!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
The Ohio State University
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN ECOLOGY
COLLEGE OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

© 2025 Live Smart Ohio - Family and Consumer Sciences | The Ohio State University - College of Education and Human Ecology | Accessibility | Privacy Policy

%d