Demographic and Health Survey 2008 - IPUMS Subset
Ghana, 2008
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Sep 19, 2018
Last modified
Sep 19, 2018
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115017
Weight for age standard deviations (new WHO) (members under age 5) (H_HWCWAZWHO)
Data file: GHA2008-H.dat
Overview
Type:
Discrete
Decimal:
0
Start:
614
End:
617
Width:
4
Range:
-
Format:
Numeric
Questions and instructions
Literal question
505. WEIGHT IN KILOGRAMS
CHILD WEIGHT
KG ____.__
CHILD WEIGHT
KG ____.__
Categories
| Value | Category |
|---|---|
| 9996 | Age in days out of plausible limits |
| 9997 | Flagged cases |
| 9998 | Missing |
| 9999 | NIU (not in universe) |
| 9995 | Height out of plausible limits |
Warning: these figures indicate the number of cases found in the data file. They cannot be interpreted as summary statistics of the population of interest.
Description
Definition
For household members under the age of 5, HWCWAZWHO (HC71) reports the difference between their weight and the median weight of a reference population of the same age and sex, expressed in units equal to one standard deviation of the reference population's distribution. An anthropometry measure expressed in reference standard deviation units is also known as a Z-score. HWCWAZWHO values are reported in units equal to 100 times the Z-score, to preserve two decimal places without requiring the use of a decimal point. Dividing HWCWAZWHO by 100 will yield a weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ) value.
Low child weight-for-age, or "underweight," is a composite indicator of acute and/or chronic malnutrition. The WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition [URL omitted from DDI.] considers a weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ) between -2 and -3 to represent moderate malnutrition, and WAZ below -3 to represent severe malnutrition.
Reference populations used to generate HWCWAZWHO draw from the WHO Multicenter Growth Reference Study (MGRS) [URL omitted from DDI.] released in 2006, which defined new standard anthropometry curves using a globally diverse reference population intended to reflect healthy growth conditions. For DHS samples that preceded WHO MGRS release, DHS retroactively calculated weight-for-age Z scores using WHO MGRS reference data.
Prior to the WHO MGRS, DHS anthropometry reference populations drew from 1978 U.S. CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) international growth reference [URL omitted from DDI.] data, which was the previous international standard reference. The DHS variable HWCWAZNCHS (HC8) reports the young household member's weight-for-age Z-score value using the NCHS/CDC 1978 reference population. DHS has continued to release versions of all child anthropometric variables using NCHS/CDC 1978 reference populations, to preserve comparability with samples preceding the 2006 WHO MGRS release.
HWCWEIGHT (HC2) reports the young household member's weight as measured by DHS personnel. AGEMOHHLT5 (HC1) reports age in months at the time of measurement.
Low child weight-for-age, or "underweight," is a composite indicator of acute and/or chronic malnutrition. The WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition [URL omitted from DDI.] considers a weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ) between -2 and -3 to represent moderate malnutrition, and WAZ below -3 to represent severe malnutrition.
Reference populations used to generate HWCWAZWHO draw from the WHO Multicenter Growth Reference Study (MGRS) [URL omitted from DDI.] released in 2006, which defined new standard anthropometry curves using a globally diverse reference population intended to reflect healthy growth conditions. For DHS samples that preceded WHO MGRS release, DHS retroactively calculated weight-for-age Z scores using WHO MGRS reference data.
Prior to the WHO MGRS, DHS anthropometry reference populations drew from 1978 U.S. CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) international growth reference [URL omitted from DDI.] data, which was the previous international standard reference. The DHS variable HWCWAZNCHS (HC8) reports the young household member's weight-for-age Z-score value using the NCHS/CDC 1978 reference population. DHS has continued to release versions of all child anthropometric variables using NCHS/CDC 1978 reference populations, to preserve comparability with samples preceding the 2006 WHO MGRS release.
HWCWEIGHT (HC2) reports the young household member's weight as measured by DHS personnel. AGEMOHHLT5 (HC1) reports age in months at the time of measurement.
concept
Concept
| var_concept.title | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Child anthropometry Variables -- TOPICS | IPUMS |