With all the candy, costumes and carving of pumpkins, many people still don’t know the origins of Halloween.
Also known in some European countries as All Hallows’ Eve, the holiday is observed largely as a secular celebration.
But as the eve of All Saints Day, it is a religious holiday among some Christians.
The anniversary originated among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. November 1 was considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed.
It was also a time when the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes. People set bonfires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present.
Thus, the festival became associated with witchery and magic.
And when the Romans conquered the Celts in the first century, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.
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Lately, though, Halloween has become a guilty pleasure in more ways than one.
Now being viewed through the lens of political correctness, celebrations of the holiday in recent years have been replaced with “harvest festivals” by some schools, churches, and other organizations.
Halloween’s distant pre-Christian origins and the spooky, gory characters some revelers choose to portray may give some celebration-planners pause.
Still, the imaginative play-acting the holiday inspires is probably a healthier way to spend an evening than settling down with a computer or video game filled with mind-numbing, routine scenes of violence.
More recently, Halloween has come under attack, with more justification, by nutritionists.
With American adults and youngsters eating themselves into poor health at an alarming rate, the holiday’s traditional association with overindulgence in treats is one that deserves attention.
If anybody celebrates Halloween, it certainly ought to be the nation’s candy manufacturers. When handouts at parties and the traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating are all accounted for, tons of sweet treats will be finding kids’ tummies during the next few days.
(Not to mention the bulging midsections of more than a few adults.)
After all, Halloween is a time for letting loose and bending the rules a little bit—including those set by the food police.
But for those with a different mind-set about the October 31 event, here are some of the healthier treat suggestions that seem to have the merit of still being palatable to youngsters.
- While fresh fruit is a healthy choice, it’s not a good idea for door-to-door handouts due to concerns about food tampering.
- But single-serving cups of low-sugar fruit or applesauce are just as handy to slip in a treat bag as they are to pack in a lunchbox.
- Dried fruit also can be found in individual servings.
- String cheese or pre-packaged cheese and crackers is a tasty way to sneak some calcium into kids’ Halloween diets.
- The granola bar, a snack that resembled a cake of pressed sawdust when it originally was introduced, has evolved to include softer, chewy versions featuring an array of flavors and coatings, including lower-sugar varieties.
- Most trick-or-treaters likely would welcome mini-muffins, particularly if you choose ones with chocolate chips.
- Snack packs of pretzels, popcorn or roasted pumpkin seeds are other good options.
- Nuts also are a healthy choice, except for those who are allergic to them.
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One would hope that kids going door-to-door are accompanied by adults able to screen treats for ingredients that might cause an allergic reaction and able to restrain the youngsters from breaking into the loot until they’ve made it safely home.
One way to enforce restraint is to hand out packets of sugar-free fruit drink or cocoa mix to be enjoyed later.
Sugar-free gum offers kids something to chew on other than candy.
As for traditional sweets, the least objectionable include bite-sized dark chocolate bars, which offset the sugar content with beneficial antioxidants, and licorice or gummy treats that are sweetened with fruit juice or cane sugar instead of corn syrup.
With treats, such as lollipops, that take longer to consume, kids will be less likely to gorge themselves at one sitting.
Non-food treat options also are plentiful. They can be found at most dollar stores, along with small puzzles and toys and colored pencils or crayons.
Other non-food ideas include trading cards, stickers, small magic tricks, rubber spiders or worms and coupons or gift cards good at a local restaurant or a family-friendly attraction such as a local movie theater.
And there’s no guilt associated with handing out wholesome treats this Halloween to children who probably will be grateful to get something different for a change.
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Top o’ the morning!