How are 600 pound people buried?

One in three adults are classified as obese, and one in thirteen are considered extremely obese. Having an oversized body can complicate a person's life, and that doesn't end when the individual passes away. If you are responsible for planning a funeral for an obese person, here are two things you need to plan for to ensure the person is laid to rest with dignity.

You'll Need a Non-Standard Casket and Plot

The average casket measures 84-inches long by 28-inches wide by 23-inches high. As you can see, they are typically not designed to accommodate people who are overweight or obese. Thus, you will typically have to order a casket from a supplier who specializes in crafting oversized caskets. Because they require extra materials to make and are typically reinforced to support the heavier weight, these caskets tend to cost more than regular ones; as much as $9,000 versus around $2,000 for a standard one.

Because of the larger casket size, you will also need to get a bigger plot for your loved one, which will also cost more. Some cemeteries will simply dig a bigger hole to accommodate your loved one. However, others may require you to pay for two spaces. Be sure to consult with the cemetery about its policy regarding interring larger-sized folks, so you can adequately budget for the cost.

More Robust Transportation

Hearses can generally accommodate the weight of an oversized casket, but not the size. As a result, you may be required to hire alternative transportation for the casket, such as a horse and carriage or a regular moving van. While the funeral home can make the arrangements for you, you can expect to pay more for the service.

However, transporting the decedent from the memorial service to the gravesite is only part of the challenge. If you plan on having pall bearers, you need to make sure there are enough people who can life and carry the casket with your loved one inside.  A regular casket can typically be carried by six individuals, but you may need twice as many people to transport an oversized one. Alternatively, the funeral home may be able to acquire lifting equipment to help with this issue if the decedent is too large for pallbearers or the funeral staff to carry.

For more tips on planning a funeral for an obese person or help making the arrangements, contact a funeral director.

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.

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