With a study predicting that by 2050 more than half of adults and a third of children and young people worldwide will be overweight or obese, a swathe of industries are adapting to accommodate larger bodies. From hospitals to transport, stadiums to crematoriums, here are some of the adjustments being made.
Sports stadiums
At the 2014 football World Cup in Brazil, organisers said 1,675 seats had been reserved for obese people or people with disabilities – the first time tickets for obese people were offered at a Fifa event.
To qualify for a ticket, people were required to submit a medical certificate saying they had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more.
Providing seats for larger football fans is now standard practice at major matches, with Fifa’s stadium guidelines stating that “easy access extra-width seating” for obese adults or those with limited mobility should be available. These should be as wide as two standard general admission seats and be able to support a weight of 250kg (39st 5lb).
Hospitals and ambulances
Over the past decade, ambulance services have invested significant sums in bariatric ambulances, designed and equipped to deal with patients over 158kg (25st), in response to a rise in obesity-related hospital visits.
These usually have double-width trolley stretchers, heavy-duty wheelchairs and reinforced tail-lifts. Other vehicles have been fitted with lifts, hoists and larger stretchers to help transport bigger patients.
The Times reported that the NHS spent £10m on bariatric equipment in 2021-22, up from £5m in 2018-19. This was for specific beds and mortuary fridges for obese people, as well as larger wheelchairs and crutches with higher weight limits.
In 2022-23 there were a record 1.2m obesity-related NHS hospital admissions, almost double the number of five years previously.
Airlines
Airlines are increasingly trying to squeeze more passengers on to flights as they respond to rising demand, and aeroplane seats are getting smaller as a result. Some airlines have rebranded their seats as “slimline” – in Air Canada’s introduction of slimline seats, widths dropped from 47cm (18.5ins) to 43cm.
As a result, plane travel has become increasingly difficult for obese passengers, with many airlines suggesting larger passengers book two seats instead of one, often at full price, and offering seatbelt extensions.
Although not specifically targeted at larger passengers, Ryanair allows flyers to book two flight tickets, one under the name “extra comfort seat”, giving them the width of two seats and more personal space.
Air France offers a 25% discount on extra seats for larger-bodied passengers if “the width of the seat is not sufficient”. Under Canadian airline rules, obese passengers travelling domestically can request an extra seat free of charge if they provide their BMI, height, weight and seated width measurements.
Crematoriums and undertakers
According to the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) in the UK, the average coffin width has increased from around 51-56cm (20-22ins) to 56-61cm over the past decade.
The organisation said funeral directors had invested in new equipment, such as rise-and-fall decks in funeral vehicles, bariatric stretchers, larger-size mortuary refrigerators and dedicated lifting equipment.
Staff are often required to act as pallbearers for larger individuals, although heavier coffins are normally transported via specially designed trolleys to avoid injury.
There is growing demand for oversized caskets and in some cases undertakers have imported reinforced caskets from the US measuring up to 132cm wide, the Times reported.
Some of these are too wide to fit in a standard burial plot and sometimes when an obese person had been due to be buried in the same plot as a loved one they have had to be placed elsewhere if there were already plots on either side.
Some councils have introduced an extra charge for people needing wider coffins and burial plots, which the NAFD has said is an “unfair, discriminatory burden”.
Adaptations have also been made in crematoriums. Sandwell council upgraded to extra-wide 110cm furnaces, partly to cater for larger coffin sizes.
Theatres
Many theatres now provide information on the exact width and dimensions of seats to help larger adults decide whether the venue will be accessible for them.
For instance, Chorley theatre in Lancashire has “fat accessibility information” listed on its website, which states that each seat is 50cm wide, 47cm deep and has 30cm of legroom, and all seats have small, immovable armrests.
This is something that has been promoted by the Fat Friendly Seat campaign, which urges UK theatres to actively address the needs of larger people and advocates for wider seats.
Clothing
Many high street retailers now offer plus-size clothing ranges specifically designed for larger bodies, as body positivity and size inclusivity have become more widely adopted by the fashion industry.
Other clothing retailers have extended the sizing range of their main clothing lines. Primark offers up to a women’s size 22 in some of its basic range clothing items. (In the UK, plus-size clothing is usually considered to be size 16 and upwards.)
The global plus-size women’s clothing market has been growing steadily in recent years and was valued at $114.1bn in 2023.
Plus-size models are increasingly seen on catwalks, and in 2019 Nike introduced plus-size mannequins into its stores.
