An unpopular opinion about Halloween

Why do we push so hard to celebrate something so unhealthy?

This will likely result in a lashing in the town square, but I think it’s wild that even though we live in the country with one of the highest rates of obesity in the world, and with all the information that is available about the downsides of sugar, that we devote an entire day (multiple days really, between events held by schools and towns) to encourage our kids to eat vast amounts of candy.

I know this is a very unpopular opinion and I’ll get a lot of resistance to it, especially heading into the holidays, but there really are no health benefits to sugar, at all. Yes, there’s pleasure in doing unhealthy things, and I’m not saying we should be ascetics, but no one needs to eat the amount of candy we give kids on Halloween.

Full disclosure: I’m a raving chocoholic, but I try very hard not to limit my kids enjoyment of this holiday, while (gently) encouraging moderation. However, it’s one thing for adults to over indulge. As adults, we make multiple decisions every day about our health; some of them good and others not so good. But we have the advantage of perspective and maturity, and hopefully better self control.

Kids don’t have any of that, and their parents, who are all knowing gods at that age, are telling them that this is a good thing. What message are we giving our kids when we encourage them to do this? Shouldn’t we be concerned about the impact on our kids health? Also, pretty much any commercial candy (in the US, at least) is filled with the cheapest ingredients and vile chemicals.

I know I sound like a grumpy old man (which I might well be) but do some reading on sugar and you’ll see what I mean. To be clear, I love seeing kids (and adults) dressed up, and if you come to my house on Halloween you will find me cheerfully handing out candy. Now get off my lawn!