Statistical analysis
obesity, depression, anxiety, diabetes
OBESITY, DIABETES
The analysis of the data was per protocol. Quantitative variables were expressed as mean (Standard Deviation) or as median (interquartile range). Qualitative variables were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies. Independent samples Student’s t-tests were used for the comparison of mean values between the two groups. For the comparison of proportions chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used. Repeated measurements analysis of variance (ANOVA) was adopted to evaluate the changes observed in knowledge scores on diabetes and obesity, attitude score towards fighting obesity, quality life scores, anxiety and depression scales among the two groups over the follow up period. Log transformations were made in case of not normal distribution. Power analysis methodology represented a design, with two groups of the between-subject factor of the studied groups and three levels of the within-subjects factor of time. For this design, 72 participants (36 per group) achieved a power of 0.95 for the between-subjects main effect at an effect size of 0.35; a power of 0.95 for the within-subjects main effect at an effect size of 0.20; and a power of 0.95 for the interaction effect at an effect size of 0.20. All reported p values are two-tailed. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 and analyses were conducted using SPSS statistical software (version 22.0).