2.2. Study participants
Adolescents in seventh to tenth grades aged between 12 and 16 years, studying in the selected schools, whose parents gave consent and who provided assent for participation, were included in the study. Those who were absent at any phase of the study were excluded from the study. Multi-stage sampling was done. In the first stage, two schools were chosen based on enrolment and attendance (one for the intervention group and another for the control group) from the schools in the study area (Uttarpara-Kotrung Municipal area). In the selected schools, sections were chosen based on Probability Proportionate to Size (PPS) method in each grade. Then in the particular section, complete enumeration was done. The sample size was estimated using Fleiss' formula for difference in proportions for parallel group intervention study design (with both groups being equal in size) (Flow diagram showing the selection of study participants.Among the final 251 responses, a significant proportion of the intervention group (33.05%) belonged to the age group of 15 years, and the control group (37.60%) belonged to the age group of 14 years. Most participants in the intervention group (67.80%) were boys, whereas most participants (50.38%) were girls in the control group. The socio-demographic characteristics of the participants are given in Socio-demographic characteristics of the participants.“n” indicates the total participants in respective groups, “N” denotes the numbers in each category, and “%” denotes the respective column percentages. P-values are obtained by Chi-squared tests. 