2.2. Study Sample
cognitive impairment, diabetes
DIABETES, HYPERTENSION, CHRONIC DISEASE
The selection of PAS units participating in the community trial was based on simple cluster sampling, stratified by the nine administrative regions of the municipality. At the time of the sampling process (2012), there were 50 PAS units in operation, 42 of which were eligible because they operate in the morning and are located in areas with medium and high/very high IVS; they have the predominant characteristics of the health service in the municipality, and have not participated in a nutritional intervention study in the last two years [The eligibility criteria for the PAS units were morning operation, having medium, high or very high IVS, being in operation in the years of the sample period, and not having been the subject of research on food and nutrition in the 2 years before this research was carried out [In the sampled PAS units, all individuals aged 20 years or older, healthy or with a chronic disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, among others, who were regular participants in the activities offered by the health service (present according to the attendance list for the month prior to data collection) and who agreed to participate in the study, were eligible for the study. The exclusion criteria were pregnant women and people with some cognitive impairment who could not provide adequate answers the questionnaire. Of the 3763 eligible individuals, 112 (3%) did not meet the inclusion criteria and 237 (6.3%) refused to participate in the research; the final sample consisted of 3414 individuals, 1428 (43.4%) of whom were participants in the IG and 1931 (56.6%) in the CG (