Easter: 9 handy tips for parents on how to handle the impending chocolate egg sugar rush

Easter Sunday might just be up there with the unhealthiest days of the year, and most of us nutrition-minded parents are stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to find a way to protect our kids from today's great chocolate-induced sugar rush.

First of all, try to relax (a one-day sugar binge does not an addict make). And then maybe try a couple of these rather sneaky tricks before you let the kids dig into their stash of Easter eggs: 1. Make sure your kids eat a tasty, full breakfast before heading out into the garden to look for eggs. Being full with actual food will dramatically reduce their ability to wolf down 15 Easter eggs. #Winning 2. Before you head out to look for eggs, discuss how much of their sweets they are allowed to eat along the way, and save the rest to divide up when back inside later on. 3. Encourage children to spread the sweets out over the next week or so. A good idea is to create a ‘sweet bank’ in a sealed container. You can agree on times when the bank will be open for ‘withdrawals’ over the following weeks. 4. Encourage children to drink water throughout the day, particularly after eating sweets. Water will help to rinse the sugar from their teeth. 5. Incorporate some physical activity into today – a walk around the neighbourhood or a garden obstacle course will help children use up some of their extra energy! 6. As a parent, you can’t control what eggs and treats your child will be sent by grandparents, Godparents etc. You can, however, have a discussion with your children, in advance, about how much they are allowed to eat. 7. Throw out the excess chocolate after a few days. Young children tend to forget about their huge hoards of sweets. Simply discard them when they are not around. (Don't eat it yourself, sure what good is that?!) 8. If they’re on a real sugar high, give them enough space to bounce it off, but don’t be tempted to delay bedtime too long – it will only make them ratty! Try a hot milky drink, a game together or a story and see if you can raise a few yawns. 9. Make sure they brush their teeth WELL tonight! Finally, don’t worry too much. Remember that one day of chocolate binging isn’t going to ruin a healthy child’s entire diet. Also, overly-restrictive rules on sweets can actually make them more appealing to kids, so try to relax -it's what they eat often that matters, not what they eat today.