Definition
MAFEDFATS24H (V414Q) indicates whether the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child food made with oil, fat, or butter 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 food made with oil, fat, or butter 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 MAFEDFATS24H thus does not necessarily indicate whether a particular child of the mother ate food made with oil, fat, or butter during the previous day. IPUMS-DHS users should instead employ the variable FEDFATS24H (M37Y) to determine whether the child ate food made with oil, fat, or butter during the previous day. See Comparability.
The related variable MAFEDFATS24HX (V469Y) reports the number of times the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child food made with oil, fat, or butter during the previous 24 hours. MAFEDFATSWKD (V470Y) reports the number of days the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child food made with oil, fat, or butter during the past week.
