Mexico City, Oct 17 (EFE) Mexico City authorities have begun the second phase of a programme to get overweight police personnel in the capital to lose weight.
The Police Department’s Comprehensive Obesity Care Programme began five months ago when a sample of 1,800 officers was studied, of whom 70 percent were found to be overweight, the municipal public safety department said in a communique.

At the start of the programme’s second phase, the deputy secretary for Citizen Participation and Crime Prevention, Nora Frias Melgoza, requested that some 1,300 policemen make the effort to change their eating habits to improve their health.

The plan contemplates a series of medical exams for overweight officers, a change in eating habits for all personnel and more physical activity.

The overweight cops will be given blood tests cholesterol, triglycerides and glycosylated hemoglobin.

“Once we get the results, a study will be opened to define a plan for the reduction of body mass,” Frias said.

As part of this plan, menus in 28 of the department’s 30 dining rooms will be changed, levels of fat and carbohydrates in each dish will be reduced, while the amount of fruits and greens will be raised in order to inculcate the habit of eating vegetables, the official said.

“A serving estimated at 4,000 calories will be changed for one of 2,400,” Frias said.

In the Mexican capital there are more than 78,000 uniformed police personnel.