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Think about the size of your treats this Halloween

It might make you feel generous to dole out larger-than-necessary goodies, but are you really doing the neighbourhood kids any favours?

Halloween is coming, and from store flyers, to your neighbours, to your kids, you might be feeling some pressure to jump on a growing trend in Halloween candy—full size treats.

It might make you feel generous to dole out larger-than-necessary goodies, but are you really doing the neighbourhood kids any favours?

According to Vancouver dietitian Gloria Tsang, founder of nutrition network HealthCastle.com and author of Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss, the move away from “fun size” treats makes it hard for kids to ration their candy over time and encourages overconsumption.

“A child might be able to understand that they are only allowed one or two treats from their Halloween stash per day,” Tsang said, “but are you really going to be able to convince them that they should only eat half or a third of one full-sized item? It gets even worse if they want to taste a few different types of candy at a time.”

Here’s a quick comparison of full size and fun size servings for some of the most popular halloween treats.

Full size vs. fun size: calorie showdown

• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Full size: 210 calories, 13 g fat, 21 g sugar

Fun size: 80 calories, 5 g fat, 8 g sugar

• Snickers

Full size: 250 calories, 12 g fat, 27 g sugar

Fun size: 80 calories, 4 g fat, 6 g sugar

• Skittles

Full size: 250 calories, 2.5 g fat, 47 g sugar

Fun size: 60 calories, >1 g fat, 11 g sugar

• Milk Duds

Full size: 230 calories, 8 g fat, 27 g sugar

Fun size: 53 calories, 2 g fat, 6 g sugar.

With just one full size treat packing in 200+ calories and up to 47 g of sugar, it’s easy to see why fun size packages are a better option for helping kids manage their candy intake.

More simple, small, achievable actions to reclaim health are available on HealthCastle.com.