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Calling All Carbs: Dietician Hired to Trim Police Force
May 8, 2008, 6:58 AM PDT 
Los Angeles -- Insert your typical "cops love doughnuts" joke here -- The Los Angeles Police Department has hired a full-time dietician to help its officers slim down.Rana Parker lays down the law for recruits, veterans and top brass, letting them know that proper nutrition can help them on the job and could even prolong their lives. "I joke with them that I'm not the food police, that I'm just here to give them information, education and hopefully give them motivation to help themselves," she said. Faced with a need for more officers in recent years, the LAPD briefly relaxed body fat limits from a maximum of 22 percent for men and 30 percent for women. As a result, the department attracted larger-sized recruits. Parker joined the department in July and has encouraged officers to make better food choices while on the job. She says doughnuts, while often the punch line for many cop jokes, are not the problem. Instead, she says, long hours and the on-the-go nature of police work make it hard for officers to find the time to eat well and stay in shape. "They may be sitting in their car and all of a sudden they need to go for a sprint, which might end in a fight as well," Parker said. "They need to be in good shape so their body can handle that kind of stress." Parker has provided one-on-one counseling to about 90 recruits, taught a nutrition course to about 500 others and made presentations to more than 400 officers. She admits that not everyone is always on board with her tactics, but others, like recruit Ashley Goodroe, have done really well. Goodroe has dropped four dress sizes since she and Parker started working together in September. Goodroe says she's learned to give up sugary fruit punch and to regularly eat breakfast. The hardest part was cutting back on the fat-laden weekly meal that takes her home to Georgia: fried pork chops, collard greens and corn bread. "I feel skinny," Goodroe, 23, said with a laugh. "I actually had to get my uniforms fitted again." Officers who don't plan their meals wisely are often reduced to nutritional bottom-feeding: drive-thru burgers, microwave burritos and greasy slices of pizza. Parker says if the officers must eat take-out they need to watch their portions. Instead, she says, they should stock up on nuts and fruits and high protein energy bars to stave-off hunger when getting a full meal is difficult. Fit officers are more confident, project strength and give the department a good image, she added. A suspect may think twice about trying to outrun a physically fit officer. While some critics say using tax-payer money to fund Parker's $60,000 annual salary is a waste, others say it's necessary. Kevin Sommers, national chairman of safety and technology for the Fraternal Order of Police, applauded the LAPD for recognizing diet as an important issue. "For the longest time in law enforcement we trained our people in policing, but we didn't teach our people about how to maintain their mental and physical well-being," he said. Francisco Rubio Jr., a 30-year-old recruit, says diabetes and high cholesterol run in his family. But it was the recent death of a 40-year-old friend, an officer who had a heart attack on the job, that really drove home the need to get fit. With Parker's guidance and a regimen that replaces sweets with fresh oranges and strawberries, Rubio has dropped from 195 to 175 pounds. He vows to be wary of the fatty food that lurks around every corner. "What catches our eyes unless we discipline ourselves is pizza, hamburgers - all the food that's out there that's easy-access," Rubio said. "Now I tend to look at it as a heart attack waiting to happen." Copyright © 2008, KTLA
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