Five things for parents to know on Halloween in Metro Vancouver
Credit to Author: David Carrigg| Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2019 13:16:58 +0000
It’s Halloween on Thursday and here’s a list of things for parents to keep in mind as children head out into the cold and dark to gather as much candy as they can in as short a time as possible.
According to Vancouver Coastal Health dietitian Nicole Spencer it’s perfectly fine to let your kids eat as much candy as they want on the night of Halloween and the day after.
“This one time of the year is not going to affect their nutrition,” Spencer told Postmedia News. “It’s the pattern of eating that affects our nutrition.”
Spencer said that on day 2, it’s the same. Let them eat as much as they want.
Then on day 3 start to portion the candy out.
“You can cut (sugar) out as much as you want, but at the end of the day they are going to turn into adults. Allow them to regulate for themselves.”
That noise you hear is the sound of the 700,000 British Columbians aged 14 and under calling out a collective thanks to Nicole Spencer.
Be really, really careful with your kids on Halloween. A UBC report showed there is a 43 per cent higher risk of pedestrian deaths on Halloween night than on other nights near that date — and kids aged four to eight are at the highest risk.
Even without Halloween, this time of the year is dangerous for pedestrians as the days get shorter. ICBC notes November, December and January are the worst for pedestrian accidents, with dusk being the worst time of the day to be out.
It is suggested that children don’t wear masks that obscure their vision, that they wear reflective patches and also carry a flashlight or glowstick.
Vancouver-based pollster Research Co. took to the phones recently to get some opinions on Halloween. It found 41 per cent of Canadians support moving Halloween to the last Saturday of October. Curiously, men are more in favour of a shift to Saturday (at 46 per cent), and younger people support the move more than the oldies do. The lowest level of support for the idea was in British Columbia.
A recent study found 57 per cent of Canadians think costumes that highlight a racial stereotype, involve changing the colour of your skin or make fun of social stereotypes — like a vagabond — are inappropriate. The Vancouver police says costume weaponry has been a problem for police in the past, including plastic handguns to hatchets to pretend swords.
Candy wrappers tend to go straight into the trash can. However, London Drugs is offering a Halloween candy wrapper collection drive in B.C. The retailer is accepting chocolate bar and candy wrappers, chip bags and zipper lock pouches as part of its Other Flexible Plastic Packaging collection program.