SUGAR has had quite a bad press recently for being much less sweet than it tastes — but with events such as Halloween around the corner it can be difficult to keep an eye on how much of it your children eat.

Recently Jamie Oliver has announced he will be charging extra for sugar drinks in his restaurants and Brighton is introducing a voluntary "sugar tax".

It can be difficult to tempt sweet-toothed youngsters away from sugary deserts, fizzy pop and chocolate, but the Food and Health Team at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has come up with some advice for parents about alternative ideas and recipes so that children can enjoy Halloween without sugar overload.

You might not believe it, but the spook-tacular treats to the right (photographed) are made from nothing but deliciously healthy fruit and vegetables but look just as appetising as sweets and chocolates.

Lizzie Simister, food and health advisor, said: "We all consume way too much sugar and celebrations like Halloween and Christmas often see people up their intake of sweets and chocolate. So we are hoping to help parents introduce healthier alternatives to the usual bag of goodies."

The team has come up with a number of alternative Halloween-inspired goodies which are quick and east to make.

Ms Simister said: "Often we like to use sugary treats to create a sense of excitement around occasions such as Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas, but you can do the same thing by making fruit and vegetables look fun and appealing by making a pepper it into a pumpkin or an apple into a funny face with a piece of strawberry for a tongue.

"Rather than saying to kids, you can't have this or that, introduce them to some fun foods and get them to help you make them. Children love having activities to do so get them to make silly faces out of fruit and fill tubs with grapes to dip in a little bit of chocolate so they've still getting some of their five-a-day."

Health experts have said that reducing sugar in diets even without cutting calories or losing weight has the power to dramatically improve health.

A new study involving obese children found impressive results in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol in as little as 10 days.

Scientists behind the study said it showed that sugar was "metabolically harmful not because of its calories" — but because it is sugar.

The study, published in the journal Obesity, looked at the effect of restricting sugar on metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes — something that is on the rise in Bolton.

Official data shows that there are currently about 19,200 people in Bolton who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Ms Simister said: "Too much sugar can lead to decaying teeth and also obesity, which can then lead to problems such as Type 2 diabetes. People don't often know how much they are consuming because a lot of the food we buy has added sugar in it.

"Hopefully food swaps like these will encourage people to eat more healthy in the future."