(Photo: thejakartapost.com) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s East Java province has put 50 overweight police on a special physical training programme to lose weight and better serve their job.
According to the provincial police spokesperson Frans Barung Mangera, the officers are being closely monitored on the two-week programme of aerobics, swimming and jogging, and also get guidance from nutritionists and medical experts.
The force had determined that the ideal weight for an officer in kilogram should be their height (in centimeters) minus 110, Mangera said.
He said the programme was likely to be extended to the entire province of East Java, adding that body shape determines whether the officer is fit to serve the public.
The programme has been positively responded by police officers. Iwan Sutanto, a participating officer said that being overweight makes them less agile when they are on duty, and they often fall sick. He claimed to feel healthier after losing 3.5 kg.
Indonesia has seen a spike in obesity in recent years and the World Health Organization in 2016 estimated that at least 28 percent of Indonesia’s 250 million people were overweight.
A 2018 health survey of 300,000 families concluded that about one in five adults was obese, media said. A sedentary lifestyle as well as a diet often rich in oil and sugar has been blamed.-VNA
