Interviewer instructions
For those children who had diarrhoea in the past two weeks, 'illness' in this and the next
question refers to the diarrhoea episode. Disregard any additional illness these children
might have had.
If dehydrated, a child may take more fluids than usual. We want to know if the pattern of
fluid consumption changed during the illness. The focus in this question is on how much
fluid was actually taken by the child.
Ask the question just as it is worded here. Read out the entire question and circle the
appropriate code for the caretaker's response. Get the respondent's best judgment of the
relative amount of total fluids actually consumed by the child. All fluids are included, not just
special ones given during diarrhoea. For example, water, tea, fruit juice, breast milk, and
formula are included as well as special fluids such as ORS.
Try to find out what actually happened, not what the respondent thinks ought to have
happened. An answer such as, "A child with diarrhoea (or "a child who is ill") needs more
fluids" is not satisfactory. You would need to ask, "But how much did your child actually
drink during this diarrhoea?"
It may be difficult to estimate the relative amount of breast milk taken by the child. The
respondent may make an estimate based on whether the child nursed longer or more
frequently.
