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October 21, 2004
Prairie Fare: Halloween Goblins Look Forward to Gobbling Treats
Any day now little goblins with flashlights and plastic jack-o-lantern buckets will be haunting neighborhoods and shopping malls collecting goodies. However, kids in Halloween costumes aren’t the only ones who enjoy sweet treats. Americans spend about $84 per person yearly on candy, and the candy industry tops $24 billion in sales in the United States. On average, Americans gobble up about 11.6 pounds of chocolate and 9.9 pounds of non-chocolate candy per person yearly. Here’s a study that many a “sweet tooth” will hold up as evidence they should eat from the tip of the food pyramid a little more often. Harvard researchers studied the relationship between candy consumption and lifespan among Harvard University alumni who were undergraduate students from 1916-1950. All the subjects were males who completed questionnaires and detailed their eating habits, including candy consumption. The researchers took age, physical activity, diet and smoking into consideration when studying the data. The somewhat surprising news: Eating candy was associated with living longer. Males who ate about 1.5 ounces of candy one to three times a month lived about a year longer than those who skipped the candy jar. However, emptying the candy jar daily does not mean you can set the Guinness World Record for longevity. Perhaps the candy consumers were just a little happier because they were looking forward to a sweet treat. Or maybe, as the researchers speculated, the antioxidant chemicals (phenols) in chocolates helped protect them against cancer and heart disease. Dark chocolate, by the way, is higher in protective antioxidants. In reality, this isn’t a license to eat a daily chocolate bar without some other possible consequences. Does buying a larger wardrobe fit into your budget? Enjoy an occasional treat-size candy bar to satisfy your sweet tooth. Some parents associate eating candy with hyperactivity. Sugar consumption, however, does not cause hyperactivity according to research studies. Granted children might act a little wild and wired after an evening of haunting the neighborhood, but it isn’t true hyperactivity. Parents should inspect candy before their excited kids enjoy the tempting loot from an evening of trick-or-treating. Kids and parents should agree on guidelines for the number of treats to enjoy per day. Sweet, sticky treats can cause cavities, so make sure that little ghouls brush their fangs well after enjoying a few treats. Here are some suggestions from the American Dietetic Association for nutritious goodies and a few non-food items that will please the little goblins haunting your neighborhood. For more information about healthful eating, visit this Web site: www.eatright.org
Here’s a tasty treat featuring the icon of Halloween, the pumpkin. You’ll want to carve yourself a second piece.
### Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
Market Advisor: |
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North Dakota State University |
