Heidi Klum Pays Her Children to Eat Healthy - East Idaho News
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Heidi Klum Pays Her Children to Eat Healthy

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Getty 041712 HeidiKlum?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1369740950303Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Every parent knows that it’s hard to get a child to eat something if he or she doesn’t want to.

Supermodel Heidi Klum reportedly solves that problem by paying her children to entice them to eat healthy food.

In an article in the the Daily Mail, Klum, 39, said she makes fruit smoothies for her four children for breakfast.

“Some of my kids don’t love it so I decided I would pay them a dollar if they finish their drink,” the Project Runway judge said. “All of the money goes into their piggy banks, they have collected a bunch of money since January 1. What’s good for them is good for me as well.”

Paying children to eat foods they don’t want can be viewed as bribing them, but Dr. Karyn Gordon, a relationship and family expert, said that might be too strong a view.

“Bribe — I think has a lot of, it’s got a very negative connotation especially with children … If they’re picky eaters, I think it’s a great strategy to focus on the foods that they do like that are healthy for them, and at the same time making it non-negotiable that they do have to be eating other foods that are also healthy for them,” she said.

Pilar Clark says her 7-year-old son, William, will eat anything – including vegetables, but her 4-year-old daughter, Winter, is very picky. Clark, a blogger for the website Babble (which, like ABC News, is owned by The Walt Disney Co., says she has to work to entice her daughter to eat certain things.

“We don’t bribe with money,” Clark, of Lisle, Ill., said. “Fortunately she’s too young for this, but it’s mainly sprinkles. She adores sprinkles, as in sprinkles in a bowl with a spoon … And usually, iPad. ‘If you take a couple bites you can watch this on the iPad. If you take a couple bites you can have a bowl of sprinkles.’”

Sometimes Winter will take a bite but may not always swallow the food. Although things have gotten better over time, Clark said daily mealtimes are a struggle. She hopes things will change.

“I think as a parent you want to see your children eating the things that you know are good for them even if they don’t want to,” Clark said.

Gordon said parents should keep reintroducing food to children as they grow up.

“The taste buds will change, I mean certain foods that I didn’t like as a child I love now, I mean it changes,” she said.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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