More than two-thirds of U.S. adults meet the government's definition of being overweight, and one in five is obese. New vendors like Amplestuff.com are catering to the obese market. They offer seat-belt extenders that can be discreetly taken aboard planes by passengers. Online shoppers also can buy oversized clothing hangers so that larger garments won't fall off, bathroom scales in increments of 400, 500 or 1,000 pounds, and 96-inch dressmaker tape measures. Even casket builders are turning out extra-large coffins that can hold a body up to 700 pounds. It is wonderful that free enterprise can meet this "growing" demand. However, the solution is not to provide a co-dependency environment to facilitate this trend as if it were normal, but to take the bull by the horn and aggressively treat the underlying cause, which relates to an excessive use of grains and sugar, not enough exercise, and unresolved emotional traumas.
Seattle Post Intelligence October 27, 2003