Trick or Treat? Candy, Sugar and How it Can Affect Your Sleep
Trick or Treat?!? In a matter of days, children around the country will be parading around neighborhoods with bags full of sugary candy in their festive outfits and costumes. With the spirit of Halloween in full force and the anticipation of all sorts of candy being collected and consumed, we want to remind you of the effect sweets can have on you and your child’s sleep.
How Sugar Affects Your Sleep
High amounts of sugar consumption not only can increase diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer risk factors, it can negatively impact your sleep life. While eating a lot of sugar before bed raises your blood sugar levels, it has also been shown to cause restlessness and frequent nighttime awakenings. Limiting your sugar intake before bedtime will help you sleep better and healthier!
Limiting Your Child’s Sugar Intake This Halloween
Treating yourself to some candy on Halloween is okay, but we suggest implementing steps in your household to limit the amount of sugar intake. Here are four tips we think can help you enjoy this fun, candy-crazed holiday while also getting a healthy night’s sleep.
1. Set limits on how much candy your kids can eat
While this might not be the most popular option in your household, limiting the amount of candy your child consumes on Halloween will allow for a better night’s sleep.
2. Emphasize FUN this Halloween, not sugar
There are plenty of fun activities you can experience with your children on Halloween that don’t involve stocking up on candy. Visit a local haunted house or spooky corn maze, have a pumpkin carving contest, watch a Halloween movie, or host a Halloween costume party.
3. Offer low-sugar or non-food Halloween treats
When gearing up for the holiday, look for low-sugar treats at the grocery store to disperse to your child and others who may stop by your house on Halloween night. Other inexpensive items children love to add to their Halloween baskets are glow bracelets, plush monster toys, slime, stickers, or glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth!
4. Swap candy for small prizes
When your child hauls in that big bag full of unhealthy snacks, have an alternative “prize” in the form of toys that can be exchanged for candy. This will still allow your child to have fun collecting candy on Halloween night while decreasing the quantity of candy collected at the end of the night.
You don’t have to keep putting up with sleepless nights. At FusionSleep®, we have dedicated our entire medical practice to helping patients as young as two years old get their lives back through healthy sleep. We offer various sleep solutions, in-lab and at-home sleep testing options, and virtual appointments on our established telemedicine platform. Contact us today on our website or by calling 678.990.3962.