Yet another country has had to resort to enforced measures to control the growing waistlines of their police force.
3,000 overweight police officers in the Philippines have been put on a strict exercise regime for the next 8 weeks in a hope that they can shape up enough to be at their best when running after 'criminal elements'.
The officers must complete a minimum of 2 sessions a week of calisthenics, running, walking or biking, and lectures on proper diet and stress management. Nicanor Bartolome, the Director General of the Philippine National Police, said "We want our personnel to be fit in the performance of their job". He was leading the track runs along with new graduates from the Police Academy, with the overweight members of the force trying to keep up.
The seriousness of their obesity came to light as an Officer Ranada said "When we patrol with the motorcycle unit of the highway patrol, we can respond quicker if our bellies are not so big". The other point of seriousness for the officers is that three consecutive failures in the bi-annual physical fitness test could be grounds for getting kicked out of the service.
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