By Aaron Recuenco
The body mass index or BMI will now be strictly used as a basis before a police recruit is allowed to be hired as a member of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Philippine National Police (MANILA BULLETIN)
PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde said that he had already directed the leadership of the National Police Training Institute (NPTI) to strictly require police recruits to maintain their body mass index before they graduate from rigid police basic training to become full-fledged police officers.
“This is part of our effort to ensure that all those who would enter the police are not only mentally sound but also physically fit,” said Albayalde.
The body mass index is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women, according to local the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Using the metric system, it is computed via dividing a person’s weight expressed in kilogram by a person’s height in meters squared (or multiplying the height by itself), or BMI= kg/m².
If a person’s weight for instance is 60 kilograms and the height is 1.65 meters (five feet and five inches), the BMI is 22.06 which is classified as in a normal weight category.
According to the experts, a BMI less than 18.5 is considered as underweight while those between 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI between 25-29.9 is considered overweight while those who has more than 30 BMI are considered obese.
Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, PNP spokesman, said the BMI requirement is part of the physical fitness program of the PNP in an effort to professionalize the organization and attain respect of the people they serve.
Past PNP leaderships have imposed various physical fitness requirements which include having a waistline of not more than 34, or climbing the stair of a 10-storey building.
Police officials said policemen must be fit all the times as it is needed in running after criminals.
Recently, a policeman went viral for tirelessly chasing a suspected robber in Manila. The cop was awarded for his good example.