Is it spreading, or is this like "why do so many women suddenly get autism" misconception?

Not the same misconception, though it's a poor choice of wording.

Type II diabetes cases are actually increasing around the world, due to factors another comment summarizes very well, but it's not obviously "spreading" like a contagious disease.

It's not an issue of doctors starting to diagnose something that always existed but went undiagnosed due to ignorance/bias.

Obesity is much easier to see than differences in brain topology, and obese is something a person can become. Nobody "becomes" autistic.