Police in Bangkok Battle the Bulge!

60 overweight police officers are set to take part in a 12 week boot camp of dawn-to-dusk exercise and lecture programs on living a healthier lifestyle at a police training centre in Bangkok. During the camp the officers will be wearing T-shirts with ‘Get rid of the belly” emblazoned on them and will start their days with pre-dawn jogs before taking part in yoga sessions, dance classes, tai chi and aerobics. The officer that looses the greatest amount of weight at the end of the program will win 5,000 baht, although the officers state that improving their health is more of an incentive than the prize money.

Last year annual checkups of two hundred thousand officers showed that the most common problems among them are high blood pressure, liver problems, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity. A lot of these problems are caused by their work schedules that often mean they are eating at the end of night shifts, and the stress of the job causes them to drink and smoke to excess.

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