Bengaluru: 20% of southeast division police have illnesses, get dieticians' help

BENGALURU: About 20% of police personnel in the southeast division were diagnosed with chronic illnesses during special health check-ups, and are getting assistance from dieticians and nutritionists over the diet regimen to follow to fulfil the force's responsibilities.
Of the 1,200 southeast division staffers, 800 so far have undergone health check-ups at Apollo Sagar and Jayadeva hospitals.
The special initiative was taken up by DCP (southeast) CK Baba in the wake of the upcoming assembly elections when police are expected to step up and face a great deal of workload. The spiralling cost of health checks and facilitating consultation with dieticians were the other factors.
Mental & physical health key
According to Baba, police personnel of all ranks need to be fit as a fiddle and both mental and physical health are key to this. "Prevention of possible diseases and early intervention play a major role. On the other hand, the division is also focusing on the work-life balance of the staffers to ease stress. Keeping these factors in mind, health check-ups were taken up. For quality check-ups, the department roped in Apollo and Jayadeva. Besides health check-ups, regular follow-ups are a necessity and will be taken care of," he added.
Baba said roughly 20% of the staffers tested have been diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension and heart-related ailments in the early stages. "While there is no cause for concern, for the personnel's better health in the long run, dieticians and nutritionists are being consulted. A special arrangement is made for the same. The dieticians have given them a diet chart based on their health conditions. For instance, whether they can consume rice, chapati or millets," he said.
A cop who underwent the check-up said this is a great initiative by the department. "This will boost both morale and physical fitness. Work-life balance is very important and it is encouraging to see we're allowed to take weekly-off and go home after work, although some days are exceptions," he said.