The chart below shows the percentage of people in the UK who ate five portions of fruit and vegetables per day from 2001 to 2008. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart illustrates what proportion of men, women and children in the UK consumed the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables each year from 2001 to 2008.

Overall

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, it is clear from the data that women were the most likely to meet the target throughout the period,

whereas

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the youngest group was consistently the least likely. All three categories improved until 2006, but every value

then

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declined slightly in the final two years. In 2001, roughly 22 per cent of women reached the recommended amount, as against 17 per cent among men and only 11 per cent among youngsters. Female consumption climbed steadily over the subsequent years and peaked at 32 in 2006, so almost a third of the female population was eating healthily by

then

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. Males followed a similar upward path, rising to 28 at the same point,

although

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the gap between the two sexes never closed entirely. Young people,

by contrast

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, started from a far lower base and made the smallest gains. Their share grew from 11 to a high of 19 in 2006, which meant that fewer than one in five ever achieved the goal. Because all three bars fell back after that year, the figures had dropped to 29, 25 and 17 , respectively , by 2008. If

this

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downward trend had continued, the progress made earlier in the decade would soon have been lost.