With obesity a growing problem in most wealthy countries, Dubai has come up with a novel way to fight it. If its citizens lose weight, they’ll give them pure gold; if the dieter happens to be a child, they’ll double it.

The Your Child in Gold program will give children two grams of gold for every kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) they lose.

Granted, a gram isn’t really all that much gold—about $42 at last check—still, it can add up. Last year, when Dubai launched a similar program for adults (at a lower gram-per-kilogram rate), the government doled out about $762,000. (Time)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.