Definition
MAFEDSMPROT24H indicates whether the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child any small protein sources, such as insects, grasshoppers, snails, eels, termites, or snakes during the previous day, either at night or during the daytime. MAFEDSMPROT24H 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 insects, grasshoppers, snails, eels, termites, or snakes 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 MAFEDSMPROT24H thus does not necessarily indicate whether a particular child of the mother ate insects, grasshoppers, snails, eels, termites, or snakes during the previous day. IPUMS-DHS users should instead employ the variable FEDSMPROT24H to determine whether the child ate insects, grasshoppers, snails, eels, termites, or snakes during the previous day. See Comparability.
The related variable MAFEDSMPROT24HX reports the number of times the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child insects, grasshoppers, snails, eels, termites, or snakes during the previous 24 hours. MAFEDSMPROTWKD reports the number of days the child's mother gave her youngest surviving child grasshoppers, snails, eels, termites, or snakes during the past week.
