Having diabetes doesn’t mean you or your child can’t enjoy the holiday season. Halloween is right around the corner and people living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes can still enjoy trick-or-treating, according to a health education expert.

“Just like they tell us with anything nutrition wise, right, it's in moderation. So I want parents to be careful of shaming children for eating candy, period. Because it's OK for them to eat candy,” said Ny'Nika McFadden, who researches chronic disease self-management at Texas State University. “It's just within moderation, right? So, for example, instead of a regular size candy bar they take, break it into increments and give that to them. That way they're still eating candy, but it's not necessarily excessive.”

One out of every three children born after 2000 is estimated to be affected by diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Education about diabetes is crucial so that people with the disease aren’t stigmatized, said McFadden, who has a Ph.D. in Health Education and Promotion.

“Individuals with type 1 or type 2 may have problems getting social support because individuals don't understand the difference between the two,” McFadden said. “It adds to the stress of, OK, people don't understand what I have, or they don't understand what I have to go through to constantly manage my blood sugar.”

Living with diabetes will not spoil the fun during Halloween. However, incorrect insulin usage while eating candy can be dangerous, according to McFadden.

“They have to be mindful of administering insulin while they're out and about walking and eating,” McFadden said.” If the physical activity is already lowering their blood sugar from that candy, and if you're administering insulin on top of that, you might lower your blood sugar too low, so that could be a potential problem.”

According to McFadden, strategic planning is the best advice for diabetic trick-or-treaters.

“Try to do your best not to cut corners with learning how to do carbohydrate counting because nutrition has such an important effect on your blood sugar, where nutrition is already complicated enough,” McFadden said. “So please, if you don't see a registered dietitian or you need to see a diabetes care education specialist, please seek assistance from someone.”

Dylan Roddy is a graduate student at Texas State University and an intern for Texas Community Health News, a collaboration between the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the university's Translational Health Research Center. TCHN stories, reports and data visualizations are provided free to Texas newsrooms.