2.3. Data collection and participants
BLIND
After the random allocation of schools to two groups of intervention and control with similar characteristics, equal numbers of girls and boys schools were assigned to the intervention and control groups. Thus, a total of 20 schools (10 as controls and 10 as interventions) were randomly selected, four from each geographical district (north, south, east, west, and downtown) of Baneh city. Before the commencement of the study, coordination with the management of the city's education department and all school administrators was achieved through a written letter and attendance at schools. All 4, 5, and 6 graders were selected in each school. Then, the benefits of participating in the study, how the program was implemented, and how long it took were explained to the school authorities, students, and parents, and the written informed consent form was completed and signed by the students and their parents.Further explanation is provided in the intervention method section. At the beginning of the study (October 2018), data on demographics and socioeconomic status, FNLIT subscales, including the understanding of food and nutrition information (UFNI), nutritional health knowledge (NHK), functional food and nutrition literacy (FFNL), interactive food and nutrition literacy (IFNL), food choice literacy (FCL), critical food and nutrition literacy (CFNL), food label literacy (FLL) were collected from students in both intervention and control groups by a questionnaire. After 6 months of implementation of the education program (March 2019), students in both control and intervention groups completed the same questionnaire.Due to the nature of the treatment, it was impossible to blind subjects to educational and environmental interventions. The project coordinator and research assistants were also not blinded because they were responsible for implementing the intervention.