Halloween has quietly become one of the sweetest weeks in the British calendar. Trick-or-treating, school parties, the family-size bag your kids found "by accident" — the average child can put away the equivalent of three weeks of recommended sugar in a single evening.
Why a sugar spike matters
The short version: blood sugar rockets, then crashes. The crash brings tiredness, irritability and the kind of energy slump that turns bedtime into negotiations. Repeat that for a week and the family is suddenly a different family.
Strategies that don't ruin the fun
Eat a proper meal before trick-or-treating so the sweets land on a full stomach. Let kids pick a generous handful for the night and bank the rest. A daily multivitamin during October half-term and the week after is a reasonable backstop while the diet is wonkier than usual.
What to watch for
If your child is suddenly off their food in the days after, more tired than usual, or complaining of tummy aches, the sugar surge could be part of it. Plenty of water, normal meals, an early bedtime, and things usually settle.
The rules don't have to be strict
One week of sweets won't ruin a child's health. A pattern of replacing meals with sweets eventually will. Use Halloween as a moment, not a baseline, and the rest of November tends to look after itself.
Looking after the household
Adults are not immune to the leftover-bowl raid. If you're working long hours, a daily multivitamin and a proper breakfast give you something other than sugar to lean on — useful when the bowl is, somehow, still there on November 5th.