The freakiest holiday of the year is only but days away. In an effort to gather some interesting information about the holiday I came across a frightening fact. In 2004 a census study of our southern cousins produced a scary piece of information. The average American consumed 25 lbs of candy a year with the majority consumed around Halloween. Whether we like to admit it or not our habits are not greatly different then our south border counterparts. 25 lbs of sugar and fat would yield approximately 60,000 calories or enough to produce 17 lbs of new body fat. My, that sounds frightfully delicious. Now consider if this is repeated on an annual basis and begins at a young age, it’s not hard to see why obesity is such a growing problem in society and perhaps why diseases such as Type II diabetes are becoming increasingly prevalent.
To continue with this frightful math our poor individual now carrying 17lbs of unneeded mass decides to get ambitious upon reading this article and is determined to offset this consumption with exercise to ensure they don’t need to spend the winter months looking for larger pants. Each hour spent at a fast walk on our beloved treadmill burns approximately 500 calories. At 3500 calories a pound all those wondrously sweet morsels have now committed our hero to a mere 119 hours on the treadmill. So book the time off work now or slot your treadmill holiday into your child’s schedule in place of the next summer vacation now. 3 weeks on the treadmill in mid-July sounds like a fun family time for sure. So all of my horrifying humor aside, Halloween is a tough holiday to provide healthy alternatives for. The very nature of the holiday centres around the immortal words “Trick or Treat” and these days tricks likely don’t earn the respect and admiration they maybe once did. As a “Treat” is pretty much the standard expectation for every goblin and ghoul that graces your steps it’s difficult to have their best interests at heart. The more desirable the treat, likely the worse it is for them and should you opt for a “healthier” treat you are still stuck providing something that is securely packaged which is synonymous with processed and full of preservatives. It really is a lose-lose situation at best.
Now hopefully I haven’t painted myself to be too big a target for all the rotten eggs but on Saturday when all the ghosts and ghouls are gone it’s important to remember that one of the scary truths about Halloween may stick with you a lot longer. As they say a moment on the lips…
