A highly experienced instructor who had a fleet of Cessna 152s told me some years back that Cessna realized pilots were getting "bigger" (read: fatter and wider), so built the 152 2" wider and added horsepower.
That was in 1978! Today's pilots, especially Americans, are fatter and wider still.
I have a 152. I'm somewhat of a blimp myself, so it is used mostly as a one-up flivver, unfortunately.
