Even in death, overweight people can sometimes struggle to find something that fits.
But in the United States at least, coffin-makers are waking up to the demands of an increasingly obese population.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that across America, as people get bigger so do their burial caskets.
Keith and Julane Davis, whorun the Goliath Casket company in Lynn, Indiana, said that when they set up business in the late 1980s they would sell just one triple-width coffin a year.
Now every month they ship out four or five of these vast caskets - 1.1m across as opposed to a standard 60cm and capable of holding a body weighing up to 317kg without "losing its integrity".
America's large portions and fast-food culture have led to a population in which 20 per cent of people are now considered obese, up from 12.5 per cent in 1991. Of people aged 70 and over - the demographic that most interests the funeral industry - 17 per cent are obese.
