Codes
This variable is not available for any of the currently selected samples.
Description
MAFEDGRAIN24H (V414E) indicates whether the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain during the previous day, either at night or during the daytime. This variable describes a characteristic of the mother rather than the child.
Although the question wording asks about foods given to a specific child during the previous day, responses relate to the mother, so all young children of the mother are coded the same way. If the mother reported she gave her youngest surviving child bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain in the previous day, all of her young children in the data are coded as "yes," including any children who have died or who live elsewhere.
A positive response in MAFEDGRAIN24H thus does not necessarily indicate whether a particular child of the mother ate bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain during the previous day. IPUMS-DHS users should instead employ the variable FEDGRAIN24H (M37Q) to determine whether the child ate bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain during the previous day. See Comparability.
The related variable MAFEDGRAIN24HX (V469Q) reports the number of times the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain during the previous 24 hours. MAFEDGRAINWKD (V470Q) reports the number of days the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain during the past week.
Comparability
In addition to universe differences, MAFEDGRAIN24H (V414E) has significant variation in question wording, such as which grains are included in the questionnaires, and recoding. Most samples ask about the mother's youngest surviving child under age 2 or 3 living with her. Some samples ask about the mother's last-born child, and others ask about the mother's last-born child if he or she is still breastfeeding.
Comparability - Standard DHS
MAFEDGRAIN24H (V414E) is included in Phase III forward of the standard DHS questionnaire.
In Phases I and II of the standard questionnaire, if the respondent's last-born child is alive and still breastfeeding, the respondent is asked which foods she fed that last-born child in the past day.
In Phase III, the standard questionnaire asks about the foods given to each surviving child born in the three to five years before the survey.
In Phases IV and V, the standard questionnaire asks about the youngest surviving child born in the three years before the survey who is living with the mother. Phase IV asks about the number of times the child was given any food made from grain [e.g., millet, sorghum, maize, rice, wheat, or other local grains] in the previous 24 hours ((MAFEDGRAIN24HX (V469Q)), and Phase V asks whether the child was given bread, rice, noodles, or other foods made from grain.
In Phases VI and VII, the standard questionnaires ask about the youngest surviving child born in the two years before the survey who is living with the mother.
Researchers should remember that, although all phases of the standard DHS questionnaire ask about foods given to a specific child during the previous day, the data do not always reflect this. In MAFEDGRAIN24H, the responses are treated as a characteristic of the mother. This means that all reported young children of the mother are coded the same way. If the mother reported she gave her youngest surviving child bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain in the previous day, all of her young children in the data are coded as "yes," including any children who have died or who live elsewhere.
FEDGRAIN24H (M37Q) reports the results to the same question in the questionnaire, but it treats the responses as a characteristic of the child, indicating whether the child ate bread, rice, noodles, porridge, or other foods made from grain during the previous day.
