Additionally, Skinner11 observed that while sweet foods are among the favorites of children, the least-appreciated foods are vegetables. Thus, stimulation of the innate preference for sweets, offering soft drinks and artificial juices, added to the low consumption of vegetables early in life, which may negatively affect the development of eating habits.18 Socioeconomic and family GSK2118436 factors are directly associated with the development of preescholers’ eating habits.19 Although maternal education is the most studied variable and a strong influence on the outcomes of health and nutrition,20 in the present study it was low paternal education that was associated with lower consumption of fruits and vegetables.

There is evidence that low parental education is related to less understanding of health needs and a lower degree of child care,21 also interfering with the knowledge and understanding of nutritional recommendations and requirements.19 and 22 Thus, as observed in this study, other researchers found that parents with low educational level offer fewer fruits

and vegetables to their children.23 and 24 The results of this study demonstrated that children from higher-income families were less likely to consume fruits. However, it is important to emphasize that, in the present study, the sample consisted only of families of low socioeconomic status, and that the comparison between the different this website levels of income was performed only in this group. Thus, a hypothesis for this finding is

that, in this population, among families with higher income, fruits are being replaced by processed foods with higher energy density, due to higher purchasing power25 and greater capacity for the acquisition of these foods.14 A study performed in Brazil observed that increased consumption of foods with high energy density may be associated with reduced consumption of traditional foods Oxymatrine in the diet of Brazilians.14 It was also observed that dietary patterns characterized by high intake of sweets, soft drinks, and snacks are more frequent in populations with higher purchasing power.14 and 26 Studies in other developing countries observed similar results, associating highly energetic dietary patterns with higher-income families.27 and 28 This study has limitations that need to be acknowledged. The low socioeconomic status of the study population does not allow for the extrapolation of the present results to other populations. However, this population that uses the Brazilian Public Health System centers has greater biological and social vulnerability when compared with the population with higher socioeconomic status, which require care and effective health promotion strategies. Another limitation to be considered is that the assessed children participated in a randomized field trial, and the performed intervention may have influenced the results.