Products for the Obese: XXL Coffins & More
June 1, 2004 -- Society is now adjusting for obesity in death as well as in life.
Just visit the Goliath Casket Company in Lynne, Ind., and talk with president Keith Davis. "We make the super-size of oversize caskets," says Davis.
Goliath specializes in coffins for the obese — for the deceased weighing as much as 1,000 pounds. Business has increased by 20 percent a year for the past decade.
In the company's factory, workers weld metal frames, including some that are bigger than the bed of a pickup truck. A standard-sized casket today is 27 inches wide."When we started out," says Davis, "we were building 33-inch-wide caskets and we thought that was an obese casket." But 10 years ago, he says, that began to change. "Now we're up to 52-inch-wide caskets and I hope that's going to be large enough."
Extra Large, Extra Costs
Transporting a casket for an obese person can cost twice as much as a regular casket. There are other costs such as larger cemetery plots, which make a funeral for an obese person at least 30 percent more expensive.
"There's huge economic cost here in upsizing the size of the world," says Arthur Caplan, a medical ethicist and professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. "I don't think anybody can get a handle on them easily because they're subtly spread throughout society. But they're significant."
Those costs are keenly felt at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City, near the Columbia University campus.
A standard-sized wheelchair that once fit almost every patient is now being replaced by wheelchairs that are more than 30 percent bigger and eight times as expensive. St. Luke's also bought larger blood pressure cuffs and scales that reach 1,000 pounds. The hospital now also bolts toilets to the floor instead of the wall. And a special bed for obese patients costs five times as much as a regular hospital bed — more than $18,000. A recent nationwide survey by Novation, a group purchasing organization for hospitals and health care institutions, found that 80 percent of hospitals nationwide report treating more obese patients over the last several years. And a fifth of respondents said they had to remodel to accommodate them.
Medical imaging is one highly expensive area. Tables where patients recline during X-rays have to be reinforced, says endocrinologist Jeanine Albu of St. Luke's. Standard closed imaging machines, such as CT Scans and MRI machines, cannot accommodate obese patients."There are patients today that are not just 100 pounds overweight," Albu says. "There are patients who are now 200 pounds overweight, 300 pounds overweight."
Helping the Obese, or Sending the Wrong Message?
These new obesity statistics have spawned dozens of consumer businesses aimed at the obese, including Amplestuff.com. The site sells items like seat belt extenders, oversized umbrellas and special hangers for big clothes.
Rochelle Rice, a New York City wellness adviser for obese people, applauds the growth of such businesses. "These products are important because they help people stay engaged in life," she says. "And to me that's the most important thing. There's enough shame and guilt about being overweight."Medical ethicist Caplan sees that as a dilemma for society: Do these products make it easier to remain obese? "If the world kind of adjusts to your size, perhaps you start to think this is normal, this is OK, I can function all right, I don't have to lose that weight," he says. "Well, we know from a health point of view that's not the message to send out." The future can seen at Berkline Furniture in Tennessee, which makes big, reinforced chairs for the obese. "There's a 600-pound lift chair that we're working on," says Berkline Furniture executive Cabot Longnecker, "which is actually going to be 32 inches between the arms in width." But Berkline isn't stopping there. Customers are already asking about a chair that could accommodate a person weighing 1,000 pounds.