No, flab is not "in." It's just that the majority of young adults are sedentary. Since a fat chick won't stand out anymore, she can wear tight & revealing clothing along with her other dumpy looking friends. Note, there is nothing wrong with tight & revealing clothing, as long as the person wearing them is at least okay looking.

Although, out here in L.A. where we have sun all year round, there are a lot more tanned, attractive, and atheletic young women than elsewhere. I would guess having snow for a few months, or high humidity throughout the summer, makes one less active. Plus, nearly everyone has to keep up the L.A. "image."

Mix the Internet and all of the toys that go with it (video games, blogging, etc.) with an unhealthy food supply filled with trans fats, HFCS, chemicals for flavoring, color, etc. (thank you mega-food corporations) and you have dumpy-looking young adults. I recommend that everyone read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser to see just how manipulated our "food" is by the mega-corporations. It's all about producing the cheapest possible crap for consumption, health be damned. It's also why I'm not surprised about the E. Coli breakout in the spinach supply.