The bar chart compares the percentage of overweight adults in Japan, Finland, Australia and USA for each decade from 1980 to 2000.
It can be seen from the chart that there were significant changes over the period shown. While the USA and Australia saw significant increases in the percentage of overweight adults, Japan and Finland experienced only small rises.
In 1980, around 15% of adults in the USA were overweight, compared to Australia and Finland which both had approximately 8%, and the proportion of adults with weight problem for Japan stood at just 3%.By 1990, the percentage of overweight Americans had risen to 25%, while the percentage for Australia and Finland accounted for nearly 11% and just less than 10%, respectively. By contrast, the percent in Japan remained the same.
Over the following 10-year period, USA and Australia doubled compared to 1980, almost reaching 31% and 23% of people with weight problem, and the percentage for Finland and Japan rose to just over 10%, and only 1%, in the same order.