Impact of COVID-19 on fish consumption and nutrition intake—An empirical study

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on fish consumption and nutrition intake based on a random survey of 247 fish consumers in Bangladesh. The Propensity Score Matching technique is used to compare fish consumption and fish-sourced nutrition intake between two groups of consumers before and during COVID-19. The result shows that 38% overall reduction in fish consumption for the low-income group compared to lower-middle, upper-middle- and high-income groups. Furthermore, per capita consumption of culture and capture fish species decreased significantly for low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income groups of consumers. It indicates that nutrition and mineral intake have reduced sharply as well Higher energy and K reduction are observed for Pangasius hypophthalmus among different culture fish species while energy and Ca reduction were higher for Wallago attu and Mystus vittatus respectively. Therefore, the government might place a greater emphasis on excluding the food supply chain from lockdown restrictions during a COVID-19-like pandemic.