When it comes to sweets treat and cute chocolate figures, Easter truly is a cracking time of year. But it’s also the season where many of us tend to overdo it on the Easter Bunny’s spoils.
While she does not want to put a damper on chocolate around Easter, Orna O’Brien, a qualified dietitian with the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF), does have some advice about moderation.
“Easter eggs are a very traditional Easter food that have been around for a long time and nobody is saying that children shouldn’t get them.
“It’s normal to have a little more chocolate at this time of year but the problem we’re talking about is over-consumption,” says Orna.
“This is being driven by pester power and by the sheer volume of Easter eggs that children in particular get as gifts from family and friends.
“There is also the temptation overload created by the excessive marketing and clever promotions in supermarkets that are really targeted at children,” she says.
But how much is a ‘little bit more’ chocolate at Easter? One egg? Two? What size?
Orna points out that the Irish Heart Foundation commissioned a study into Easter egg consumption in 2018 which found that the average Irish child receives four Easter eggs each, with about 20% of children getting six or more.
“They’re big numbers,” she says. “It highlights the importance of looking at considering non-chocolate egg gifting.”
The IHF study also looked at the impact of Easter egg consumption on children, given the amount of sugar each chocolate egg contains.
“Just one medium-sized Easter egg contains 23 teaspoons of sugar, almost four times the child’s recommended daily limit,” Orna adds. “That’s a huge amount of sugar in just one Easter egg and if children are eating four, it’s a lot of sugar over a weekend.”
Egg adventures
She doesn’t think that people – adults or children – should blame themselves for being drawn to chocolate, however, at any time of year.
“People tend to feel guilt and shame when they overeat chocolate when in actual fact, most of the chocolates that we see are ultra-processed foods that have been specifically designed and engineered to make them highly-palatable, to make us eat them in large quantities and to make us repeat purchase.
“The big retailers also run promotions coming up to Easter with big end-of-aisle displays and special offers. All of that plays a role.”
So what is Orna’s advice this Easter weekend?
“Shift the emphasis. Try not to give up proper meals in favour of Easter eggs. Make sure children are getting out and that their time is occupied. Easter can be a lovely time for reconnecting with people and enjoying the good weather.
“You could go for a walk or have a picnic – think of Easter as an opportunity to spend quality time with the people that you love.”
She also has some fun suggestions involving real eggs.
“Try decorating hard-boiled eggs for an Easter egg hunt or having an Easter egg race, rolling one down a nearby hill (where safe to do so). Activities like that last a lot longer, and keep children focused on something and entertained.”
Moderation is the goal
Josh Percival is a registered dietitian with his own practice, Athrú Dietetics, in Dublin. Obesity is of particular interest to him.
For adults, his advice is to not see chocolate as a ‘treat’.
“Obviously moderation is the goal – and not seeing chocolate as a big treat. I work with people to try change their language around these kinds of foods and not call them treats or unhealthy because chocolate doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
“It can be part of a healthy lifestyle and of a healthy diet and viewing it as unhealthy is not helpful. It can be more about looking at your diet and asking yourself, ‘how can I get more nutritious foods in’ rather than ‘how can I cut out chocolate?’
When you do have an Easter egg, for example, he recommends focusing on the enjoyment of it rather than on the guilt side.
“Allow yourself to enjoy it and savour the taste and the smell, rather than feeling guilty about it. Think about the benefits like the enjoyment of getting to share this chocolate with your partner or child.
“Obviously there is a case for limiting how much you have in the house so that over-consumption doesn’t become an issue.
“If you think of it as a bad thing, you may binge on it and feel guilty afterwards and restrict, and then binge on it again and feel guilty again, so you’ve got to get out of this constant cycle.
“I think enjoyment is actually a big part of doing that,” adds Josh.
“Some people are more likely to eat bigger quantities of foods like this, however. Their brains are wired to eat more and chocolate tastes nicer to some people than to others.
“We all have those friends who just have two squares – then there’s people like me who eat the whole bar.”
Josh Percival, registered dietitian.
The food industry has a big role to play too. “It is pushing special offers and bigger bars at us which brings up the issues of marketing and portion size. The obesity epidemic is proof that we can’t fight it on our own.
“With children it’s a very complicated story. The solution to childhood obesity has to come from the Government and the food corporation rather than from us.”
So what are Josh’s suggestions for a healthier Easter?
“Offer children more nutritious foods with the chocolate – like fruit or nuts or seeds and see what your child goes with. They might actually feel like eating the other foods.”
Easter can be a difficult time for those with diabetes, but Sinéad Powell, senior dietitian with Diabetes Ireland has some good advice.
“Easter only comes once a year and a little chocolate will not affect your long-term blood glucose control,” she says.
“For children with diabetes, it is important that they have a similar egg to their siblings and friends so that they do not feel that their diabetes excludes them from this. The key is to eat small amounts of the egg at a time and spread throughout the Easter period.”
Expensive and unnecessary
‘Diabetic’ Easter eggs are not recommended, she says.
“They are expensive and unnecessary. Diabetic chocolate contains fructose, sorbitol or a similar sweetener which can have a laxative effect. It is just as high in fat and calories as ordinary chocolate and can still raise blood sugar levels.”
Her top tips for being sugar smart this Easter include limiting the amount of chocolate and treats coming into the house, choosing small, hollow, unfilled eggs that include a mug or toy rather than additional chocolate, asking well-wishers not to gift sweet treats and organising an Easter treasure hunt where the prizes don’t have to be edible.
But does chocolate have a good side? Should we be choosing one type over another, as a rule?
“We often get a line in the press that dark chocolate is good for your heart because it contains substances called flavanols,” Orna explains.
“Yes, some studies suggest that these may have blood pressure-lowering effects. While it’s true that darker chocolate does contain flavanols all chocolate, even the high cocoa content type, comes with a lot of saturated fat, sugar and calories and excessive intake of these is linked to various health problems including heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.
“They’re low in essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals and fibre. To be blunt they mostly provide sugar, fat and calories without any real or substantial nutritional value.”
Everything in moderation.
Irish shoppers spent €24.6m on Easter eggs in 2024, up €9.3m on 2023.An average Easter egg contains 23 teaspoons of sugar, four times more than a child’s recommended daily intake. Cocoa beans, the raw ingredient for chocolate, contain flavanols – which belong to a class of antioxidants called polyphenols and offer disease-prevention benefits. However, 75% of the polyphenols in the raw cocoa bean are destroyed during processing. Safefood tips: share one Easter egg between several children. Have the chocolate as a dessert rather than between meals. Read more
Prostate cancer: early detection can save lives
Healthbytes to keep you in the picture
When it comes to sweets treat and cute chocolate figures, Easter truly is a cracking time of year. But it’s also the season where many of us tend to overdo it on the Easter Bunny’s spoils.
While she does not want to put a damper on chocolate around Easter, Orna O’Brien, a qualified dietitian with the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF), does have some advice about moderation.
“Easter eggs are a very traditional Easter food that have been around for a long time and nobody is saying that children shouldn’t get them.
“It’s normal to have a little more chocolate at this time of year but the problem we’re talking about is over-consumption,” says Orna.
“This is being driven by pester power and by the sheer volume of Easter eggs that children in particular get as gifts from family and friends.
“There is also the temptation overload created by the excessive marketing and clever promotions in supermarkets that are really targeted at children,” she says.
But how much is a ‘little bit more’ chocolate at Easter? One egg? Two? What size?
Orna points out that the Irish Heart Foundation commissioned a study into Easter egg consumption in 2018 which found that the average Irish child receives four Easter eggs each, with about 20% of children getting six or more.
“They’re big numbers,” she says. “It highlights the importance of looking at considering non-chocolate egg gifting.”
The IHF study also looked at the impact of Easter egg consumption on children, given the amount of sugar each chocolate egg contains.
“Just one medium-sized Easter egg contains 23 teaspoons of sugar, almost four times the child’s recommended daily limit,” Orna adds. “That’s a huge amount of sugar in just one Easter egg and if children are eating four, it’s a lot of sugar over a weekend.”
Egg adventures
She doesn’t think that people – adults or children – should blame themselves for being drawn to chocolate, however, at any time of year.
“People tend to feel guilt and shame when they overeat chocolate when in actual fact, most of the chocolates that we see are ultra-processed foods that have been specifically designed and engineered to make them highly-palatable, to make us eat them in large quantities and to make us repeat purchase.
“The big retailers also run promotions coming up to Easter with big end-of-aisle displays and special offers. All of that plays a role.”
So what is Orna’s advice this Easter weekend?
“Shift the emphasis. Try not to give up proper meals in favour of Easter eggs. Make sure children are getting out and that their time is occupied. Easter can be a lovely time for reconnecting with people and enjoying the good weather.
“You could go for a walk or have a picnic – think of Easter as an opportunity to spend quality time with the people that you love.”
She also has some fun suggestions involving real eggs.
“Try decorating hard-boiled eggs for an Easter egg hunt or having an Easter egg race, rolling one down a nearby hill (where safe to do so). Activities like that last a lot longer, and keep children focused on something and entertained.”
Moderation is the goal
Josh Percival is a registered dietitian with his own practice, Athrú Dietetics, in Dublin. Obesity is of particular interest to him.
For adults, his advice is to not see chocolate as a ‘treat’.
“Obviously moderation is the goal – and not seeing chocolate as a big treat. I work with people to try change their language around these kinds of foods and not call them treats or unhealthy because chocolate doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
“It can be part of a healthy lifestyle and of a healthy diet and viewing it as unhealthy is not helpful. It can be more about looking at your diet and asking yourself, ‘how can I get more nutritious foods in’ rather than ‘how can I cut out chocolate?’
When you do have an Easter egg, for example, he recommends focusing on the enjoyment of it rather than on the guilt side.
“Allow yourself to enjoy it and savour the taste and the smell, rather than feeling guilty about it. Think about the benefits like the enjoyment of getting to share this chocolate with your partner or child.
“Obviously there is a case for limiting how much you have in the house so that over-consumption doesn’t become an issue.
“If you think of it as a bad thing, you may binge on it and feel guilty afterwards and restrict, and then binge on it again and feel guilty again, so you’ve got to get out of this constant cycle.
“I think enjoyment is actually a big part of doing that,” adds Josh.
“Some people are more likely to eat bigger quantities of foods like this, however. Their brains are wired to eat more and chocolate tastes nicer to some people than to others.
“We all have those friends who just have two squares – then there’s people like me who eat the whole bar.”
Josh Percival, registered dietitian.
The food industry has a big role to play too. “It is pushing special offers and bigger bars at us which brings up the issues of marketing and portion size. The obesity epidemic is proof that we can’t fight it on our own.
“With children it’s a very complicated story. The solution to childhood obesity has to come from the Government and the food corporation rather than from us.”
So what are Josh’s suggestions for a healthier Easter?
“Offer children more nutritious foods with the chocolate – like fruit or nuts or seeds and see what your child goes with. They might actually feel like eating the other foods.”
Easter can be a difficult time for those with diabetes, but Sinéad Powell, senior dietitian with Diabetes Ireland has some good advice.
“Easter only comes once a year and a little chocolate will not affect your long-term blood glucose control,” she says.
“For children with diabetes, it is important that they have a similar egg to their siblings and friends so that they do not feel that their diabetes excludes them from this. The key is to eat small amounts of the egg at a time and spread throughout the Easter period.”
Expensive and unnecessary
‘Diabetic’ Easter eggs are not recommended, she says.
“They are expensive and unnecessary. Diabetic chocolate contains fructose, sorbitol or a similar sweetener which can have a laxative effect. It is just as high in fat and calories as ordinary chocolate and can still raise blood sugar levels.”
Her top tips for being sugar smart this Easter include limiting the amount of chocolate and treats coming into the house, choosing small, hollow, unfilled eggs that include a mug or toy rather than additional chocolate, asking well-wishers not to gift sweet treats and organising an Easter treasure hunt where the prizes don’t have to be edible.
But does chocolate have a good side? Should we be choosing one type over another, as a rule?
“We often get a line in the press that dark chocolate is good for your heart because it contains substances called flavanols,” Orna explains.
“Yes, some studies suggest that these may have blood pressure-lowering effects. While it’s true that darker chocolate does contain flavanols all chocolate, even the high cocoa content type, comes with a lot of saturated fat, sugar and calories and excessive intake of these is linked to various health problems including heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.
“They’re low in essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals and fibre. To be blunt they mostly provide sugar, fat and calories without any real or substantial nutritional value.”
Everything in moderation.
Irish shoppers spent €24.6m on Easter eggs in 2024, up €9.3m on 2023.An average Easter egg contains 23 teaspoons of sugar, four times more than a child’s recommended daily intake. Cocoa beans, the raw ingredient for chocolate, contain flavanols – which belong to a class of antioxidants called polyphenols and offer disease-prevention benefits. However, 75% of the polyphenols in the raw cocoa bean are destroyed during processing. Safefood tips: share one Easter egg between several children. Have the chocolate as a dessert rather than between meals. Read more
Prostate cancer: early detection can save lives
Healthbytes to keep you in the picture
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