4. Discussion
Based on the findings, the intervention designed and implemented in elementary schools in Baneh resulted in a significant improvement in total food and nutrition literacy (FNLIT) score and almost all its subscales in the intervention group compared to the controls. The FNLIT scores in both groups were moderate or low in more subscales before the intervention, except for the two subscales of the cognitive domain: understanding of food and nutrition information and nutritional health knowledge. The scores of both groups were moderate to low in all other subscales, especially in interactive food and nutrition literacy and food label literacy subscales. In the intervention group, the highest and the lowest scores were related to the “food choice literacy” and “food label literacy” subscales, respectively. These results are consistent with those reported by Doustumohammadian et al. in Tehran (The present study indicates a considerable gap between FNLIT in the cognitive and skill domains in children aged 10–12 years. These findings reemphasize the need to reform educational approaches to focus more on hands-on practice experiences, specifically when it comes to everyday life skills (Using the IM approach was a strength of the present study. The advantage of using the intervention mapping approach has been demonstrated in various studies. A literature review suggests that the intervention mapping approach, with emphasis on evidence and theory, provides an appropriate conceptual framework for guiding the content and strategies used to design health promotion interventions, and interventions designed using this framework positively affect health outcomes. Krolner et al. (In Iran, school food environments do not usually support students' healthy food choices. Often school staff and peers, as students' main role models, do not have appropriate eating patterns most of the time, and school stores generally do not adhere to healthy nutrition policies (Children have a strong interest in food and nutrition information and learning and practicing food and nutrition skills, and they usually welcome happy, varied, inexperienced, and multifaceted intervention programs, and they consider the school a good place to start these programs.Based on the evidence, multi-level and multi-component interventions have often been successful (