The diagrams illustrate weekly expenditure on various types of fast food, among different income groups, and the amount of fast food consumed in Britain, in grams, over a twenty-year period from 1970.
Overall, people in almost all income groups spent more money on hamburgers than on other types of fast food. Meanwhile, the consumption of fast food increased across all categories, except for pizza, which followed a different trend.
Looking at weekly spending, people in the high-income group spent the most money on hamburgers, at 45, followed by pizza and fish and chips, at 19 and 17 respectively. Among those with average incomes, spending on hamburgers and fish and chips was also relatively high, standing at 33 and 26, while expenditure on pizza was considerably lower, at 12. By contrast, people in the low-income group spent less on fast food overall than the other groups. Although spending on fish and chips reached a peak of 17, expenditure on hamburgers and pizza remained below 15, at 14 and 7 respectively.
Turning to the consumption trends, fish and chips intake rose steadily from approximately 95 grams in 1970 to around 150 grams in 1980, before increasing sharply to about 500 grams by 1990. A similar pattern was observed for hamburgers, with the whose consumption climbing consistently from an initial level of roughly 30 grams to 98 grams in 1980. This was followed by a slight rise to just over 100 grams by 1985, after which the figure tripled to reach approximately 300 grams in 1990. By contrast, pizza consumption declined markedly over the period, falling from around 300 grams to about 200 grams by the end of the time frame.