Brazilian cemetery makes 'jumbo-sized' coffins to deal with country's growing obesity crisis - video
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Version 0 of 1. Brazil is going through an obesity crisis. As consumption of processed foods grows and the population live more and more sedentary lives, the percentage of overweight people in Brazil has risen to more than 50 per cent, with 15 per cent of Brazilians now classed as clinically obese. And as the level of obesity continues to rise, Brazilian society is finding ways to accommodate this “growing” section of the population. Last year it was reported that Brazil’s World Cup football stadiums had incorporated a special obese-friendly section, with wider seats and large walkways for its overweight fans. Now even the country’s cemeteries are looking at ways to cater for their over-sized clients by making special “jumbo-sized” graves. In Rio, the Penitencia cemetery situated in the city’s port district has begun offering extra wide plots and selling coffins that can rest bodies weighing up to 500 kilograms. Speaking to G1 web news, the Penitencia cemetery’s curator, Alberto Junior Brenner, said that with number of obese people rising by 50 per cent in the last decade the cemetery decided to try and facilitate a heavier population. According to Brenner, the large graves do not come cheap, with the coffins costing families 75,000 reais (£16,000). |