The line graph illustrates the percentage of UK adolescents who followed a vegetarian diet over a sixty-year period from 1960 to 2020. Overall, the trend is marked by an initial sharp increase, followed by a period of decline and instability, before a final gradual recovery towards the end of the period.
In 1960, the proportion of adolescents following a vegetarian diet stood at 0%. This figure rose steadily over the next two decades, reaching a peak of 15.5% in 1980. Following this high point, the trend reversed significantly, with the percentage dropping to 7% by 1990. There was a brief, minor recovery to 8% in 1993, before the figure fell to a low of 4% in 1997.
From 1997 onwards, the data shows a period of minor fluctuations, with the percentage reaching 5.5% in 1998 before dipping back to 5% in 1999 and 2000. Subsequently, the trend entered a more consistent upward trajectory. By 2010, the figure had climbed to 9%, eventually reaching 11% by 2012, a level that remained relatively stable through to 2020.