A recent study by CandyUSA has found that those suspicions you probably had about your mom taking all the good stuff from your Halloween haul while you were at school were completely justified.

According to the study -— an online survey of 1,300 Americans — 81 per cent of parents confess that they take candy from their child’s Halloween collection. Reportedly, some are, at least, sneaky about it: 26 per cent of parents wait until their kids go to bed or school before sneaking some sweets.

“To me, that means that 19 per cent of people were lying,” Susan Whiteside, vice president of communications for NCA — National Confectioners’ Association — said with a laugh of the 19 per cent of survey-takers who claimed not to eat their kids’ candy. “Or at least 15 per cent. I would have expected that number to be even higher than 81 per cent.”

The survey also found that women are far more likely to sneak some candy, or enforce a “family sharing” rule, at 84 per cent versus 74 per cent of men.

Whiteside was also taken aback by findings showing that Halloween was the number one holiday for sharing candy, beating out Valentine’s Day, Easter, and holiday giant: Christmas. “I know that Halloween and candy are inextricably linked, but I really did think that Valentine’s Day, or perhaps Christmas would be shown to be holidays where people share candy more,” said Whiteside.

 

The study found that moms were more likely to indulge than dads while their kids weren’t looking.

 

When it comes to seasonal candy, Whiteside said the survey found that adults serve as gatekeepers for their children. Forty-one per cent of respondents said they limited their children’s candy consumption to a couple of pieces a day.

Unfortunately, for those trick-or-treaters who have been carefully crafting their costumes since the leaves turned orange, the survey also found that costume choice or creativity did not play a factor in how much candy households gave out.

“Sixty per cent of households say that an original or cute costume has no bearing on the amount of candy they dispense,” said Whiteside; “I personally found that surprising. A cute costume wins me over every time.”

Whiteside described an instance from last Halloween when she had a trick-or-treater come to her door dressed as Snoopy’s doghouse, in black clothing with a white doghouse for a hat, and his face done up like Snoopy’s.

“It was a pretty simple costume, but I’d never seen it before, and he had made it himself and it was really smart,” said Whiteside.