The Skinny on Halloween Candy

Q_ Every year I over buy Halloween candy and then scarf down the leftovers. Any advice on best and worst candies to buy?

A: We all remember the house that used to give out raisins and pencils during Halloween. To avoid being given a nasty look by children while still staying fit during the Halloween season here are some tips for the best and worst candies to choose from:

1. Chocolate-Luckily, some of the most decadent chocolates now come in miniature sizes and just a few bites can curb your cravings. 2 Tootsie Rolls are only 50 calories and 1 g fat while 2 Hershey Kisses also have 50 calories and 2.5 g fat. Avoid chocolate bars with milk chocolate, nuts, peanut butter, or caramel such as Snickers or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Instead, opt for chocolate such as York Peppermint Patties, dark chocolate covered Raisinets or Junior Mints. Not only will the serving sizes be larger but they will also be lower in calories and fat and to top it off the dark chocolate will give you an extra antioxidant boost!

2. Fruity Candy-Candies like candy corn and Skittles (r) are your best options because they are lower in calories and fat than chocolate. If you are someone who likes quantity, for 100 calories and 2 g fat, you can have 5 Starburst chews OR for 100 calories and 0 g fat, you can have 20 pieces of candy corn. You save 2 g fat by eating the candy corn and you get to eat 4 times the amount! Even though these candies are low in fat, they are still sweet and satisfying!

3. Suckers-- The best bet of all though and one that will actually last the longest is the Tootsie Pop. Unlike candies that you eat in seconds, lollipops have only 60 cal and 0 g fat and you can suck on them for hours and enjoy the sweet flavor all day long.

Once the holiday is over though your best bet is to be generous with your candy and share it with your coworkers or just pass it along. Keeping it at home will just temp you even more and although it may seem wasteful to throw it out, it isn't going to do you any good eating it either. Another suggestion is to only buy the candy that you do not like. This way you won't have any desire to eat it.

4,634-The number of calories in one plastic pumpkin after trick-or-treating

Here is a chart comparing different types of Halloween Candy.

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and founder of

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