♫ ♫ ♫ “These boots were made for walking” ♫ ♫ ♫
After all of your advance planning, what can you do during the actual trick-or-treat event itself to promote healthy exercise and minimize the impact of all those extra Halloween carbohydrate calories?
To promote healthy physical activity, Texas registered dietitian Kristi King encourages parents to insist that children walk — or even alternate a brisk skip-hop-jog pace — from house to house instead of driving them through the neighborhood in the family car. In the spirit of friendly competition parents might also consider providing siblings and friends with pedometers or activity meters to wear while they walk. That way, at the end of the adventure, there will be a strong incentive to determine who has been the most active “Halloween champion” while collecting those goodies.
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And be sure to head back here to HEALTHY HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN on Monday for suggestions about how to parcel out all those accumulated treats so that the kiddos don’t go into instant sugar overload during a binge session.