3%,13 an α error of 5%, and a power of 95% of the test, the sample size calculation was performed,14 which established a minimum of 395 children for the study, distributed proportionately among the administrative regions. This number was reached for almost all regions of the county, except for Praia do Canto

(estimated sample size: 42; achieved sample size: 23) and Jardim Camburi (estimated sample size: 33; achieved sample size: 26). The children included in the study were apparently healthy as perceived by parents or guardians and general clinical evaluation. Data collection was performed at BHU by trained nutritionists, undergraduate students of Nutrition, and technical nursing staff. The children were accompanied by their parents or guardians. A structured questionnaire was applied, which included sociodemographic, ISRIB mw economic, PLK inhibitor and dietary data. Subsequently, the anthropometric and biochemical assessment of the children was performed. Among the sociodemographic and economic data, the child’s age, premature birth, gender, maternal age, number of people in family, and social class were evaluated. A child was considered premature if he/she had been born after less than 37 gestational weeks (GW); borderline premature, between

37 and 38; and full-term, after 38 GW. For assessment of social class, a questionnaire adapted from the 2000 Census was used,15 consisting of a list of ten consumer goods and information on the education level of the household head. These items were scored according to the recommendations of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro

de Geografia e Estatística check – IBGE) and it allowed for the classification of the children into social strata.15 Dietary intake was assessed using a semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), created exclusively for the study and not validated, consisting of 62 foods representing seven food groups (cereals, tubers, roots and derivatives; legumes; fruits and natural fruit juices; vegetables; milk and dairy; meat and eggs; oils, fats and oilseeds) from the “Food Guide for the Brazilian population”.16 This questionnaire included the amount of food consumed in household measures and frequency of consumption (daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, rarely, or never/nonexistent). Dietary frequency data were transformed into daily consumption amount, according to the methodology proposed by Costa et al.17 Foods marked as “daily” frequency were quantified according to reported household measure; for foods classified as “rare” or “never/nonexistent”, consumption was assigned zero value; and for those that had weekly, fortnightly, or monthly consumption, the amount was divided by seven, fifteen or thirty, respectively.