The Philippine National Police (PNP) said a program to reduce the weight of the policemen aims to impose a healthy lifestyle among cops.

Police Lieutenant General Archie Francisco Gamboa, the PNP officer-in-charge, said although policemen are required to reach their ideal BMI (Body Mass Index), they are not expecting them to have fast and drastic weight loss.

The Philippine Star, quoting Gamboa, on Saturday said almost half of the 190,000 police force are overweight. He said 102,600 are at their ideal weight.

"The BMI program we developed are in line with the PNP standard so it is not too hard. We want to prevent our policemen to abruptly reduce (weight)," Gamboa explained in an interview over DZMM.

"The standard weight reduction for every month for any person is a maximum of two to three kilos a month so that's four to six pounds a month. More than that it's not anymore healthy and is dangerous especially if you are sick," he added.

Gamboa said the weight reduction program focuses on affecting the lifestyle of policemen. He added it will also help them after their retirement to prevent costly hospital charges due to diseases caused by being overweight.

"What I want to embed to the mind of these policemen is to have a healthy lifestyle because that is the most important," he said.

"Based on PNP statistics, three to five years after retirement some cops have stroke and other diseases. Others died because they did not took care of their health when they were still on duty," he added.

PNP's program, according to Gamboa, was adjusted to reach the approval of the standards of the Philippine Association for the Study of Overweight and Obesity.

He said the program was supposed to follow international standards but it was "too harsh."

Gamboa said police can monitor their BMI daily by logging their age, weight, and height in an excel format sheet in a computer. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS