Are you prepared for Halloween? Do you have your children’s costumes? Have you carved Jack-o-Lanterns? Decorated the house? Planned a Halloween party? Thought of your trick-or-treating route? Bought a bag of candy?
Have you also thought of which candies might cause constipation for your children? Probably not. Constipation is a common problem for children, and is usually easy to treat. However, holidays that encourage excessive eating and/or the consumption of unhealthy foods (like Halloween) can heavily exacerbate this condition.
If your child experiences chronic constipation, check out the 8 most popular Halloween candies and see if they might cause constipation in your child.
- Tootsie Pops
Tootsie Pops are fairly low in calories, but like most Halloween candies, very high in sugar. Tootsie Pops also contain cocoa and condensed skim milk, both of which are known to cause or exacerbate constipation, especially in children.
- Starburst
A fun-sized pack of Starbursts contains two of the fruit chews, which comes to about 40 calories and 5 grams of sugar. Starburst do not contain any ingredients that commonly cause constipation, and are surprisingly one of the better Halloween candies all around.
- Skittles
Skittles, like Starburst, do not contain any of the major ingredients that are known to cause constipation in children. While they might not cause constipation, these candies may cause a toothache at 34 grams of sugar per fun-sized pack!
- Candy Corn
One serving of candy corn typically contains about 20 pieces. They are high in sugar at 32 grams per serving, but do not contain any common constipation causes.
- Hershey’s Chocolate Bars
Hershey’s bars are a classic fan favorite, but are one of the worst candies for constipation. Chocolate often causes constipation in children and adults, and Hershey’s also contains milk, cocoa butter, lactose, and milk fat – all of which also cause constipation. If your child lives with chronic constipation, keep them away from Hershey’s.
- M&Ms
M&Ms are another big contributor to constipation. Like Hershey’s, these contain chocolate, milk, cocoa butter, lactose, and milkfat. One fun-sized pack contains 18 grams of sugar.
- Snickers
Snickers contain chocolate, cocoa butter, skim milk, lactose, and milkfat. However, this bar does contain some fiber from the nuts, so it may be a bit less harsh on your child’s stomach than Hershey’s or M&Ms.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Reese’s, the most popular Halloween candy of 2019, are not great for kids with constipation, but are not as bad as some of their other chocolate counterparts. They still contain cocoa butter and lactose, but the milk used in Reese’s is nonfat, making it a little bit easier on the stomach. These also contain some fiber, more than even Snickers, helping reduce the effects of the other ingredients that may cause constipation.
Overall, the best candy for kids with constipation are Starbursts, and the worst are Hershey’s bars. If your child is suffering from chronic constipation, a clinical research study could help. Learn more.
