Asian Journal of Agriculture and Allied Sciences

COVID-19 pandemic had affected people all over the world including Sri Lanka. Fruits and vegetables supply was hampered due to travel restrictions. Colombo the most urbanized district was the most affected. Consumption of fruits and vegetables is encouraged because of importance in human nutrition and health. This research was aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on consumption of fruits and vegetables of Colombo district working people. Data were collected from a survey conducted with a semi-structured questionnaire. Stratified random sampling was used to select 250 participants from all divisional secretariat divisions of Colombo district. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, parametric and non-parametric tests. The study revealed that the majority of participants (64.2%) had non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure. Females had significantly higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in average than the age-appropriate BMI where it was not significantly different in males. Compared to before pandemic period, there was no significant difference in consumption of fruits, roots and tuber crops, vegetables, pulses and legume (P=.05) except leafy vegetable which was significantly increased. People with non-communicable diseases had consumed significantly increased amounts of fruits and leafy vegetables (P=.05), but no significant change was present for roots and tuber crops, vegetable, pulses and legumes (P=.05). Per capita consumption was (197.18 ± 97.19) g of Colombo district working people which is significantly less than the recommended quantity (400g). Awareness of importance to maintain well-functioning immune systems, home gardening and mobile vendors had contributed to increase and non-change in consumption. Thus, it can be concluded that, COVID-19 pandemic had not significantly changed the consumption of fruits and vegetables but increased leafy vegetable consumption, compared to before pandemic, among Colombo district working people. But people with non-communicable diseases had consumed significantly higher amounts of fruits and leafy vegetables during pandemic.