Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children worldwide, and accurately assessing dehydration status remains a crucial step in preventing morbidity and mortality from this disease. While children with severe dehydration require immediate treatment with intravenous fluids, children with mild to moderate dehydration have a significant reduction in hospital length of stay and fewer adverse events when treated with relatively inexpensive oral rehydration solution (ORS). While several clinical scales have been developed for assessing dehydration in children, these scales have never been prospectively validated in a low-income country setting, where the vast majority of diarrhea morbidity and mortality occurs in children.