Obesity is killing many Americans, but one industry is thriving off of it.
Americans’ super-sized bodies require extra-large caskets that can cost as much as $3,000 more than your standard coffin, CBS News reports.
The standard 66 centimeter-wide casket for an average sized body can cost a family $2,000 to $3,000. An oversized 94 to 132 centimeter coffin, however, can have a price tag of around $5,000.
Bob Arrington, treasurer of the National Funeral Directors Association, told Al Jazeera America that casket makers are “making more room on the inside. … The casket manufacturers are realizing that this is an issue, and they’re starting to make changes.”
And not only do obese deceased loved ones require larger caskets, they need larger modes of transportation. Typically the dead are placed in hearses, but in many cases the extra-large caskets cannot fit inside these vehicles. Instead, families must rent out trucks or other large vehicles to transport their obese loved ones to their resting grounds.
Keith Davis, owner of Goliath Caskets, chose his company’s name for a reason. He makes some of the country’s largest caskets for America’s widest people.
Although the oversized casket industry is a lucrative business, Davis believes this burgeoning industry is not something to be happy about.
“We need to quit hiding it and thinking, ‘Oh well, they’re just larger than life,'” he told Al Jazeera. “If I hear that one more time, I think I’m going to scream.”
For some time the United States held the title of the world’s fattest country, but in 2013 Mexico surpassed the U.S. and claimed the title.
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