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Feeding Practices Question [message #8413] Mon, 26 October 2015 10:21 Go to next message
nholla is currently offline  nholla
Messages: 13
Registered: May 2015
Member
Hello DHS,

I'm currently trying to look at differences in feeding practices of children within the same family. For the "Foods given to the child in the last 24 hours" V414 questions, can answers to these questions vary between different children of the same mother? Or is this a question asked of the mother more generally for all of her children? Looking through the birth recode file, it seems like every child of a particular mother has the same response. I ideally wanted to see, within the same family, the difference in the foods a 3 year old eats compared to that of an infant.

Thanks for your help!
Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8441 is a reply to message #8413] Wed, 28 October 2015 09:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Liz-DHS
Messages: 1516
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Dear User, Here is a response from one of data processing experts, Mr. Noureddine Abderrahim:
Quote:
The following list of recode variables:

V409, V409A, V410, V410A, V411, V411A, V412, V412x (x= A, B, and C), V413, V413x (x= A..W), V469E, V469F, and V469X. 

Quote:
The description of each of these variables is explained in the DHS Recode Manual. The DHS Recode Manual can be found on our website. http:// dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-dhsg4-dhs-questionna ires-and-manuals.cfm

All these variables come from the question 558 of the DHS standard questionnaire (Phase 6) http:// dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-dhsq6-dhs-questionna ires-and-manuals.cfm. The population addressed by this question is defined in the filter 557. The question number used in the survey depends on the survey. A simple comparison, of the standard questionnaire and the survey questionnaire, will get you to the question used in the survey that corresponds to the standard DHS question. The different foods for the question 558 depends mainly on the country. The recode includes most of the food groups retained for the survey. Sometimes, additional foods are included in the survey that don't fit in any of the standard categories, these are included as country specific categories and their variable name is included in the recode documentation that accompany the distributed data file. The survey questionnaire can be found in the final report of the survey.


If you have additional questions, please feel free to post again.
Thank you!
Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8452 is a reply to message #8413] Wed, 28 October 2015 13:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nholla is currently offline  nholla
Messages: 13
Registered: May 2015
Member
Great thanks this is helpful! Reading through the surveys, just had a couple follow up questions to make sure I'm understanding things correctly (I apologize if I'm restating something you already answered!):

The food questions are asked of the mother for the youngest child born within the last 3 years of the interview year. Once these questions are answered, they are then attached to all children in the family of this specific child in the birth recode file. Is there a flag that identifies which child the food questions specifically pertain to? Or is my best bet just seeing who the youngest child (born in the last 3 years) is in each family, and assuming the food questions apply to this particular child?

Like you said, it seems the survey questions slightly differ based on the country and year in question. For example, the standard recode variable in the manual you linked states that v414h will be the "meat" variable. However, in Kenya, this variable does not exist. Instead, there is a v414t (which looks to be country specific) variable that combines both "meats" and "fish" and "eggs." Does this mean I can't entirely rely on the recode manual to have consistent food responses for the food variables they do list, and that I'll have to go through the documentation of each country to ensure that I'm grabbing the correct variables? I'm creating a dietary diversity indicator, so I'm more looking at how many different food groups a child is getting.

Thanks for your help!
Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8465 is a reply to message #8452] Fri, 30 October 2015 12:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Liz-DHS
Messages: 1516
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Dear User,
We consulted our nutrition expert, Dr. Monica Kothari,
Quote:

Please note that IYCF questions are asked only for the youngest child living with the mother who is less than 2 years old.
Therefore, you can only get the dietary intake response for one child in the family, who is the youngest, and living with the mother.

• There are standard dietary recode variables in DHS (please see attached), but we always recommend to review the country questionnaire food list and see if all the food items have been captured in the recode. Also, if a dietary food item is not asked in the standard DHS way, it gets recoded as a country specific code and for analysis you want to make sure that you have included that in the analysis.
• In old DHS surveys, meat, fish, and eggs were asked in the same question so they cannot be separated in the analysis. If the user is looking at the old Kenya survey then they cannot be separated. In the recent DHS surveys eggs, organ meats, and other meats have a separate recode.

Once again it is highly recommended to review the dietary questions asked in the country before the analysis.


Mr. Noureddine adds:
Quote:
there is no flag for the child to which these nutrition variables pertain

Please let us know if more clarification is needed.
Thank you!

[Updated on: Fri, 30 October 2015 16:09]

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Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8468 is a reply to message #8452] Fri, 30 October 2015 16:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Liz-DHS
Messages: 1516
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Dear User,
Here is a response from our Nutrition Expert, Dr. Monica Kothari and Data Processing expert, Mr. Noureddine Abderrahim:
Quote:
• Please note that IYCF questions are asked only for the youngest child living with the mother who is less than 2 years old. Therefore, you can only get the dietary intake response for one child in the family, who is the youngest, and living with the mother. Unfortunately, there is no single variable that marks the child as being the youngest living with the mother. You will have to find it by looking at the children born to the mother (Children who have the same mother's identification (same CASEID, I hope you had a chance to browse through the documentation and particularly the DHS Recode Manual)) and living with the mother (recode variables B5 and B9), starting with the last one (which is the first child included in the list (BIDX)) and going back.

• There are standard dietary recode variables in DHS (please see attached), but we always recommend to review the country questionnaire food list and see if all the food items have been captured in the recode. Also, if a dietary food item is not asked in the standard DHS way, it gets recoded as a country specific code and for analysis you want to make sure that you have included that in the analysis.


• In old DHS surveys, meat, fish, and eggs were asked in the same question so they cannot be separated in the analysis. If this person is looking at the old Kenya survey then they cannot be separated. In the recent DHS surveys eggs, organ meats, and other meats have a separate recode.

• It is highly recommended to review the dietary questions asked in the country before the analysis.

• Below is the list of standard variables used, in DHS 5 and 6, to define the indicators Infant and Young Children Feeding practices (IYCF). This list is a subset of the already posted list of the variables foods given in the last 24 hours in addition to the variable M39 (number of feedings) :

Dietary Variables (for DHS V and DHS VI):

Plain water                                                v409
Juice or juice drinks                                      v410
Soup                                                       v413a
Milk (tinned, powdered, fresh)                             411
Infant formula                                             v411a
Any other liquids                                          v413      
Yogurt                                                     v414a 
Any brand of cereal, fortified baby food                   v412a
Bread, rice, noodles                                       v412b
Pumpkin, carrots, squash yellow or orange inside           v414i
While potatoes, white yams, cassava etc                    v414f
Any dark green leafy vegetables                            v414j
Ripe mangoes, ripe papayas                                 v414k
Any other fruits or vegetables                             v414l
Liver, kidney, heart, or other organs                      v414m
Any meat, beef, pork etc                                   v414h
Eggs                                                       v414g
Fresh or dried fish                                        v414g
Beans and lentils                                          v414o
Cheese or other foods made from milk                       v414p
Any foods made with oil, fat, or butter                    v414q
Any snake, snail, frog, rat, insect                        v414b (country specific)
Any sugary foods such as pastry, cakes, chocolates,        v414r  (DHS V)
Any other solid, semi-solid, or soft food?                 v414s 

Number of times variable  m39

[Updated on: Fri, 30 October 2015 20:45]

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Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8499 is a reply to message #8413] Wed, 04 November 2015 16:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nholla is currently offline  nholla
Messages: 13
Registered: May 2015
Member
Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful. I will let you know if I have any other questions about this.
Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8505 is a reply to message #8413] Fri, 06 November 2015 10:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nholla is currently offline  nholla
Messages: 13
Registered: May 2015
Member
I apologize for all these questions! In your previous response you said the feeding practices are only asked children less than 2 years old. In the round 6 recode manual, for the food questions on page 63 it states that the base is "At least one child born in the last 3 years and living with the respondent." Looking at individual countries, this seems to vary. For example, in Ghana 2008, the nutrition questions seem to include children under 3 years old (the questionnaire in the final report states this), not 2 years old. However, in Ivory Coast 2011, it seems to only include children less than 2 years old. I can't verify this for Ivory Coast however because the final report is in French. Am I right to assume whether the universe is 2 years old or 3 years old varies by country?

Thanks again!
Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8511 is a reply to message #8505] Fri, 06 November 2015 13:27 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Liz-DHS
Messages: 1516
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Dear User, A response from Dr. Monica Kothari,
Quote:
In the older surveys (before DHS VI) the dietary data was collected for children under 3, but now it is only collected for children under 2.
Hope this helps.

Thank you!
Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #8512 is a reply to message #8511] Fri, 06 November 2015 14:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nholla is currently offline  nholla
Messages: 13
Registered: May 2015
Member
Ah this makes sense. Thanks!!
Re: Feeding Practices Question [message #14741 is a reply to message #8512] Thu, 03 May 2018 06:03 Go to previous message
Hassen
Messages: 121
Registered: April 2018
Location: Ethiopia,Africa
Senior Member
Thank you all this also helpful for me!!

Hassen Ali(Chief Public Health Professional Specialist)
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