IELTS Academic Writing Task 1/ Graph Writing – Pie Charts:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The charts below show the average percentages in typical meals of three types of nutrients, all of which may be unhealthy if eaten too much.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Average percentages of sodium, saturated fats and added sugars
in typical meals consumed in the USA
Model Answer 1:
The pie charts illustrate the ratio of sodium, saturated fats and added sugar in four daily meals consumed by Americans. The percentages of these three ingredients in breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that American citizens generally consume are given, and they are detrimental to health if consumed in large quantities.
Overall, dinners and lunches that USA residents consume are high in sodium and saturated fat, while their snacks have a high proportion of added sugar.
In detail, USA citizens’ sodium, sugar and saturated fat intake during breakfast is comparatively lower, around 14-16% each time. Intake of these nutrients is considerably higher in foods they eat during lunch and dinner. The lunch they eat contains 29% sodium, 26% saturated fats and nearly 20% sugar. They consume much higher percentages of these ingredients, which are harmful to health when eaten in too much. Their proportions of intake of sodium, saturated fat and sugar during dinner are 43%, 37% and 23%, respectively. Finally, the snacks they enjoy contain high sugar and fat, 42% and 21%, respectively, and sugar intake in snacks is higher than in their dinner and lunch.
Model Answer 2:
The pie charts illustrate the average proportions of sodium, saturated fat and added sugars American residents consume in breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. All three nutrients or ingredients listed are potentially harmful if eaten in excess.
As is obvious from the illustration, dinner and lunch account for the largest shares of sodium and saturated fat intake by Americans, while snacks contribute the greatest percentage of added sugar. Breakfast consistently provides the smallest share of all three nutrients.
Looking in detail, dinner makes up around 43% of sodium consumption and 37% of saturated fat, significantly higher than the 29% and 26% recorded at lunch. In contrast, breakfast and snacks both provide just 14% of the sodium intake. For saturated fat, breakfast contributes 16% and snacks slightly more than that. When it comes to added sugar, snacks are the dominant source at 42%. Dinner supplies are almost 20% less, lunch is even less, and breakfast is the lowest at 16 %.
These patterns indicate that main meals, particularly dinner, are the primary sources of sodium and saturated fat in an American diet, whereas indulgent or between-meal snacks are the chief contributors to added sugar intake.
Sample Answer 3:
The diagram illustrates the proportions of three types of nutrients in typical meals, which can be unhealthy if consumed too much. ‘Sodium’, ‘saturated fat’ and ‘added sugar’ are these three food nutrients, and the data is taken from the breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks Americans eat.
Generally speaking, Americans consume less sodium, saturated fats and sugar in breakfast, but consume a large proportion of them while they eat lunch and dinner. The snacks also contain these nutrients in plenty.
The first chart shows the average percentage of sodium intake by Americans. Dinner contains the highest ratio of sodium (43%), while 29% of it is eaten while having lunch. Breakfast and snacks include an equal proportion of sodium, which is 14% each. The second chart outlines the percentages of saturated fats in meals. By eating dinner, average Americans consume 37% of saturated fats, which is the highest among these meal types. Lunch contributes to a consumption of 26% saturated fat, followed by snacks with 21% and breakfast with 16%. The last pie chart illustrates the proportion of added sugar in meals. Snacks contain the highest proportion of it, 42%. A typical dinner includes 23% sugar, while lunch and breakfast contain 19% and 16% respectively. It is worth noticing that these three nutrients are less consumed through breakfast by Americans.
The pie charts represent the approximate proportion of sodium, saturated fats and added sugars consumed through daily meals in the USA.
Overall, it is evident that dinner constitutes the highest percentage of sodium and saturated fat, whereas the largest amount of added sugars is present in snacks. Besides, breakfast contains the lowest proportion of all three nutrients.
The lowest amount of sodium (14 percent) is obtained from breakfast. As is the case for saturated fat and added sugar, the proportion is only 16 percent for both. On the contrary, the highest amount of sodium and saturated fat is offered by dinner (43 and 37 percent, respectively), with only about one-fourth of the added sugar. Snacks take the first place for added sugar, which is exactly double the amount of saturated fat it has, and its sodium content equates to breakfast.
Just above one-fourth of the sodium and saturated fat is offered by lunch. Whereas, it constitutes only nineteen percent of added sugar.
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The given illustrations show the proportion of nutrients in regular day-to-day meals of Americans which in excess may negatively affect health. There are three charts for sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar, and the four meals are breakfast, dinner, lunch, and snacks.
Overall, the average USA citizen consumes a high amount of nutrients at breakfast, with other meals having better-balanced percentages of nutrients. Dinnertime is when the lowest-nutrient foods are eaten.
Firstly, sodium is consumed the most at breakfast, followed by lunch, being 43% and 29% respectively. Snacks tend to be sweet, so they only represent 14% of sodium consumed. The same goes for dinner. Regarding saturated fat, a similar trend can be appreciated, with breakfast representing more than a third of the fat. The rest two-thirds are mainly lunch, with 26%, followed by snacks, with 21%, and the least rich meal is dinner, with a mere 16%. When it comes to added sugar, the story is different: snacks are the richest, with 42%, while dinner and lunch cover a third of the nutrient and at the 23% left is from breakfast.
The chart illustrates the average proportion of three types of nutrients in typical meals, which may be unhealthy if consumed too much. The three nutrients contain sodium, saturated fat and added sugar. This data was taken from meals consumed by people in the United States of America.
Overall, sodium and saturated fat are heavily consumed in dinner whereas the highest percentage of added sugar is consumed in snacks.
Firstly, sodium is taken in small amounts in breakfast and snacks – about 14% in each, whereas, in lunch, its intake doubles up to 29%. However, sodium consumed in dinner is the highest – exactly 43%. On the other hand, saturated fat goes with the same trend as sodium. 21% of saturated fat is present in snacks and 16% in breakfast. In lunch, saturated fat is consumed 26% of total nutrients, but in dinner time, saturated fat is consumed about 37% which is the highest for saturated fat consumption among other typical meals.
Lastly, added sugars are largely taken in snacks about 42% and least in breakfast of 16%. In lunch and dinner, it is at 19% and 23% of total nutrients. Among all the typical meals, a balanced meal is a breakfast for consuming an adequate amount of nutrients.
This might help. Given your decision of working on meals rather than on nutrients, you have unbalanced paragraphs. Moreover, the idea that if a percentage is higher you are eating more presupposes that you are eating the same quantity of everything, which is not accurate.
1:
The given picture illustrates the contribution of every meal to the total daily assumption of sodium, saturated fats and added sugars in the US. At the first glance it is possible to note that while sodium and saturated fats come mainly from Dinner and Lunch, the sugars clearly follow another pattern, with the most substantial intake from snacks.
Starting with sodium, both its main and its second-most common sources, which are respectively dinner at 43% and lunch with just below one third, reach overall highs. The remaining daily need comes equally from the other meals.
Moving on, the saturated fats have similar proportions with the total assumption from Dinner and Lunch at around two thirds, and the remaining split between snacks and breakfast. It is important to note that here the first of the two contributes 5% more than the other, with just below one-quarter of the total.
On the other hand, added sugars in proportion come mainly from the outside-meal food, at 42%. The remaining intake is split with slight differences between dinner, lunch, and breakfast consecutively.