Is being fat the next societal taboo?

Yeah it is.

And it's not always a matter of eating too much. I'm a size 12, I eat healthy controlled portions, and exercise a lot more than the average person (run cross country, track, play tennis).

But I have an incredibly slow metabolism. I have to work harder than the average person just to maintain this level of chubbiness.

So some people say fat is a choice, it's your own fault, or whatever.

But a food addiction isn't always the issue.

That's something to think about.

It is. But it shouldn't be. Not everyone in the world can be skinny and sure they can lost weight and what not but maybe they are happy about their size. I have twin aunts who are both plus size and they are both beautiful. ( and I'm not just saying that they really are)
they are tons of fun and love their size it also helps that they dress their body type and would not be caught dead looking sloppy. Which shows that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes meaning that people should not have to be skinny to be accepted. People should just getting over the shallow bullshit and stop making everything so damn small!

Fat has been under attack for a long time. Being fat is the only thing that is socially acceptable to make fun of (people know that it is wrong to make fun of race, handicaps and other things but fat is still something that people openly feel no guilt about making jokes about).
Some people have a difficult time losing weight. Imagine an addiction that no matter what you can never get away from because you need it to live. Alcoholics can live without alcohol, drug addicts can live without drugs, sex addicts can live without sex but someone with an addiction to food can not live without food. You can't just stop cold turkey and get a patch like with cigarettes(sp). Food is required by all people.
Yes, almost everyone can lose weight if they try. I know. I recently lost 70 pounds. I am not saying that for kudos but so that people realize that I do have an understanding of what happens to fat people.

Remember, everyone has feelings. It is not easy to lose weight. Anyone who says it is has never had to lose a significant amount of weight.
It is unhealthy to be overweight.
Depression, medication and simple lack of understanding about calories are all culprits in the battle of the bulge.
Be nice to people and try not to judge them so harshly next time you see someone overweight. You don't know their story.

A few thoughts.
-I, at least, am less concerned about the actual size and more about the health/lifestyle behind it. If you sit around on your ass all day eating twinkies, no way. But if you have a medical condition, it doesn't bother me. It's a health and body respect issue.

-Obese kids *are* a problem - I've seen stuff on kids who have high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes and such. I don't think the kids should bear the brunt of the blame or solution, though. That's a parental problem.

And the airline question. Warning: this is a pet peeve of mine. If you do not fit in one seat, you should have to buy two. Or they should make the seats larger. Or something. But I have been on a plane between two larger people, each of whom took up about 1/4 of my seat. This leaves me with half of the seat *I* paid for, as well as an entire flight spent excruciatingly uncomfortable at being that close to strangers. I understand that it makes people feel bad, but I paid for just as much seat as everybody else does. I shouldn't have to speak up every time I get on a plane and ask my neighbors to get out of my seat.

Please note that I argued that from a size and in-my-seat standpoint, not a weight standpoint. People aren't paying for a weight allotment, they're paying for a seat and some storage space for luggage. So with that, I don't care how much they (or their luggage) weigh.

Ha ha on those facts yeah. But attacking food industry is not the problem, its the education and lack of control people have and they want someone to pay for it, our government is so screwed up it allows us to blame and get money from people when its our own negligence. Its so easier to blame other people for our problems. When you become a blamer you loose control of your life. When you take responsibility for everything is happening now you are the only one that can change it. Blamers have to wait till the person they blame changes and that usually happens. Now they become a victim of their own thinking. Good?

It certainly seems ripe for it. Think of it. Smoking has a multi-billion (maybe trillion?) dollar industry lobbying to Congress on its behalf, and it's still slowly being legislated into oblivion. As far as I know, there are no political activist groups or lobbying base for fat people. Except for the fast food joints, who won't fight for fat people (because it's an implicit admission that their food makes people fat), there's no one on the fat people's side. Without any support, and with health industry and others (like airlines you mentioned) fighting against it, obesity is definitely coming under attack.

Frankly, this country needs it.