Overall, there was an increase in female fitness membership throughout the period examined, while the opposite was true for male counterparts.

Above is a sentence I wrote that is supposed to mean "Over the period of 30 years, the number of women working out at a gym increased despite some fluctuations". In this sentence, I'm trying to ignore the changes in between and focus on the first and last years. I mean after everything that happened, the number increased.

My question is: Am I using "throughout the period" correctly here? Can it be used that way or must there be a consistent upward trend from start to finish for me to write it the way I did? If the sentence is currently incorrect, does adding despite some fluctuations make it right?

Overall, there was an increase in female fitness membership throughout the period examined, while the opposite was true for male counterparts.

Above is a sentence I wrote that is supposed to mean "Over the period of 30 years, the number of women working out at a gym increased despite some fluctuations". In this sentence, I'm trying to ignore the changes in between and focus on the first year and the last year. I mean after everything that happened, the number increased.

My question is: Am I using "throughout the period" correctly here? Can it be used that way or must there be a consistent upward trend from start to finish for me to write it the way I did? If the sentence is currently incorrect, does adding despite some fluctuations make it right?