Definition
For surviving children born in the three to five years before the survey, HWWTAPCTRM (HW9) reports the child's weight-for-age as a percent of the median weight for a reference population of the same age and sex. For this variable, the reference population was developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Low child weight-for-age, or "underweight," is an indicator of acute and/or chronic malnutrition,
HWWEIGHT (HW2) reports the child's weight as measured by DHS personnel. The related variable KIDAGEMO (HW1) reports the child's age in months at the time of measurement.
The similar variable HWWTAPCT (HW7) reports the child's weight-for-age percentile relative to smoothed percentile growth charts by age and sex, for the same reference population.
For an alternative measure of child stunting in terms of weight-for-age and using the same reference population, see HWWAZNCHS (HW8). HWWAZNCHS reports the difference between the child's height and the median weight of the CDC reference population of the same age and sex, expressed in units equal to one standard deviation of the reference population's distribution.
