For Immediate Release
Contact: Derek T. Berry
Media Relations Manager
Ph: 202-877-1773
Mobile: 571-218-7594
Derek.T.Berry@medstar.net
Washington, DC – October 8, 2009 – Ghouls, ghosts and goblins and buckets of candy are all standards for every trick-or-treater. Halloween is a fun time for kids and families, but strong consideration should be given to our children’s health when it comes to all the candy and goodies. But how can a parent keep Halloween fun without making it too unhealthy?
Berit Christensen, dietitian with National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Washington, DC, and Morrison Food Service, the hospital’s food service provider, says you don’t have to take the fun out of Halloween treats. Christensen has some suggestions for Halloween party treats that are fun and healthy.
Christensen recommends some healthier, more creative Halloween-themed treats and goodies to serve at parties from the Disney Family Fun website and FamilyFun Magazine. Here’s some ideas:
• Apple Bites Teeth and Mouth – slice open apples, carve teeth into the apples and baste in orange juice
• String Cheese Fingers – pieces of string cheese carved up to look like fingers with green pepper wedges as the fingernails
• Carrot eyeballs – carrots shaped like eyeballs with pieces of cream cheese and black olives as the eyes
• Spider pretzels – with crackers, peanut butter, and pretzel sticks as the legs with raisins inside
• Melon brain – carve up a cantaloupe to look like a brain
“These ideas are fun, simple and healthy,” says Christensen. “And it’s a great way to spend time with your children making these snacks.”
Christensen says if you cannot avoid the kids having candy after a party or even trick-or-treating, ration it out, allowing only so much at one time, or substitute other snacks such as low-fat pretzel sticks, a witches brew (containing orange juice, apple cider and lemonade) or fruits, nuts and raisins.
“Candy is okay to eat once in a while, but as grandmother used to say, eat in moderation,” says Christensen.
She adds that too much candy is not good for children as it leads to obesity and tooth decay. “If a child eats 12 treats loaded with sugar and fat, that’s the equivalent of eating 30 packets of sugar or drinking a liter of soda. Some of our favorite candies - Goobers, Milky Way bars, Snickers, Kit Kats, peanut butter cups - all contain anywhere from two to three teaspoons of sugar.”
National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is a private, not-for-profit facility located in Northwest Washington, D.C. NRH’s services are designed specifically for the rehabilitation of individuals with disabling injuries and illnesses such as stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and disease, arthritis, amputations, post-polio syndrome, chronic pain, back and neck pain, occupational injuries, cancer and cardiac disease that require medical rehabilitation, and other neurological and orthopedic conditions. NRH admits approximately 2,200 inpatients annually, has appeared on the “Best Hospitals” list in U.S. News & World Report for 15 consecutive years and is currently ranked among the top hospitals in medical rehabilitation in America. NRH has the only CARF accredited specialty program for both Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke in the region. In addition, NRH’s Spinal Cord Injury Program has been designated one of only 14 Model SCI Systems of care in the country by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a part of the Department of Education. NRH is a proud member of MedStar Health