[chiefalchemist]

It's both.

Humams look around (subconsciously) and think "what's the norm?" Excess weight has become the norm. What's +40 lbs when 100 is so common? On top of that it's not PC to say anything on the subject.

Put another way, look at smoking. As it decreased, it decreased more. And so on. Individuals shifted the broader norm.

What made smoking different is it was so closely tied to causing cancer. But mention the ills of obesity and you're accused of fat shaming. We have cultural leaders (e.g., Oprah) saying "Love and accept yourself no matter what" but forgetting to add "even it leads to premature death."

Long to short, we've normalized the abnormal, the unhealthy. I personally don't see an end to this trend any time soon. I hope I'm wrong.