The line graph illustrates the percentage of obesity by age in a given country from 1971 to 2005. Overall, it is noticeable that the highest proportions were found amongst the older people, who were over 45 years old. In addition, it can be seen that the sharpest climb in the rates for all groups occurred between 1976 and 1999.
While in 1955 just about 8% of 18-29-year-olds were obese, for those in the age range of 30-44 the percentage was 15%. Both groups remained stable until 1976, when the rate of obesity started increasing again, reaching a little bit more than 22% for the group of 18-29 and 30% for the 30-44-year-olds. Between 1999 and 2001 there was a modest rise in the proportion of obesity of the people from 18 to 29 years old, which was around 25%. This number remained steady until the last year, in 2005. For those in the 30-44 age range, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of obesity in 2001, however, that changed and by 2005 the rate of obesity reached a little bit more than 35%.
In stark contrast to the first two groups, in 1971 obesity was a problem for about 18% of people who were from 45 to 74 years old. This rate remained stable for both groups (45-64 and 65-74) until 1976, when it started to grow sharply, reaching more than 35% for both age ranges in 1999. Between 1999 and 2003, while the proportion maintained a constant number for 45-64-year- olds, there was a slight decline for the 65-74-year-olds. Finally, from 2003 to 2005 there was a considerable rise in the obesity rate for the age group over 65 years old.