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Halloween and Diabetes

Kids with diabetes face a challenge on Halloween: what to do with all the candy. While their friends are busy gorging on their trick-or-treat booty, kids with diabetes are often asked to be more careful. That doesn't mean that kids with diabetes shouldn't enjoy the treats -- they should. The issue is integrating the treats into the child's meal plan so as to minimize the disruption in blood glucose control. With fast acting insulins like NovoLog and Humalog, more and more families simply integrate candy into their child's meal plan. (See our poll about Halloween from October 2004.)

There are many possible approaches to helping kids with diabetes enjoy Halloween, including:

• Exchange some of the candy collected while trick-or-treating with something else, such as a small toy or money. Younger kids might like this, especially since they can get something more permanent than candy.
  
  
• Donate some of the candy collected to a local children's hospital or your local American Diabetes Association. Older kids might feel good about helping other kids.
  
  
• Keep selected candy and fit it into your child's meal plan. With carbohydrate counting and a fast-acting insulin such as Humalog or NovoLog, you can easily accommodate candy into a well-balanced diet.

Alternatives to Candy

You may even wish to choose non-candy treats to give away. Some families give out Halloween-themed pencils, small plastic bugs, glow-in-the-dark rubber balls, or other small toys instead of candy. These kinds of items are readily available at local party-supply stores, or via mail-order from places like the Oriental Trading Company.

Carbohydrate Values for Common Candies

Candy   Size/Package   Carbs (g) 3 Musketeers   16 gram fun-sized bar   12g 3 Musketeers   2.13 oz bar   46g Baby Ruth   2 oz. bar   37g Baby Ruth   1 fun size   17g Blow Pop sucker   One sucker   13g Butterfinger   2 oz. bar   41g Butterfinger   22 gram-fun sized bar   15g Candy corn   15 pieces   15g Dum Dum suckers   One sucker   5g Gummy Bears   11 pieces   30g Heath Bar   1.4 oz. bar   25g Hershey's Almond   3 minis   15g Hershey's Almond   1.45oz. bar   20g Hershey's Kisses   6 pieces   16g Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar   snack size   10g Jolly Rancher   1 piece   6g Kit Kat bar   3 piece bar   10g KitKat   1.5 oz. package   26g Licorice   3 6-inch Twizzlers   15g M&M's   "Halloween" mini box   10g M&M's, plain   mini pack   15g M&M's, plain   1.69 oz bag   34g M&M's, peanut   mini pack   13g M&M's, peanut   1.74 oz bag   30g M&M's, peanut butter   1.69 oz bag   27g Milky Way   2.15 oz bar   43g Milky Way   fun-sized bar   14g Nestle's Cruch   1.5 oz   28g Nestle's Crunch   4 mini bars   26g Reese's Cups   2 regular-sized 1 oz cups   18g Reese's mini cups   4 1-oz mini cups   16g Skittles   15 pieces   15g Skittles   mini pack   17.5g Snicker's   fun size   12g Snickers   2.07 oz. bar   36g Snickers   20-gram fun-sized bar   12g Starburst   4 pieces   16g Sweet Tarts   mini packs - 5 packs   13g Tootsie Pop   1 pop   16g Tootsie Roll midgets   12   30g Tootsie Rolls   2 bars   23g Twix   2 2-oz. cookies   37g Warheads   5   13g Whoopers   8 Pieces   15g Whoppers   1 small pouch   16g Wonka Pixie Stix   Each (about 6 in. in length)   2g

Other Halloween Information

• Candy and Carbs List (PDF)
• Halloween Tips for Parents & Kids by the ADA
• Trick-of-Treat for Diabetes by Kim Gosselin is a book about Halloween and kids with diabetes.

Posted 19 October 1999
Updated 1 November 2006

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Last Updated: Wednesday November 01, 2006 20:10:32
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