Trick or Treat: How to Have a Safe and Healthy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Between choosing the perfect costume and the tricks and treats, today’s holiday can be overwhelming for parents with small children. Anita Chandra-Puri, MD, a pediatrician at Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, recently spoke to FOX Chicago* about ways to have a happy and healthy Halloween.

According to Chandra-Puri, the number one danger for trick-or-treaters is traffic safety as it’s very easy for kids to get excited and run in the middle of the street from house to house. It’s important for drivers to be aware of little pedestrians that may be wearing masks or dark colored costumes.

As parents join their kids to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood, setting ground rules for your family can help ensure that a child doesn’t end up with a stomach ache at the end of the night due to excessive candy consumption. Chandra-Puri suggests children do not eat the candy while they are trick-or-treating; this will allow mom and dad to inspect the bags when they get home.

If you’re passing out candy this evening, make sure you provide sealed candy; and when possible, treats that list ingredients so parents of kids with food allergies can watch out for nuts or other common allergens. Chandra-Puri’s favorite Halloween treat is a lollipop, which she says is the safest for children because it only contains sugar and the stick is helpful in preventing choking.

View the full interview at FOX Chicago.*