Chi-square is used to look at the statistical significance of an association between a categorical outcome (such as wasted or not wasted) and a categorical determining variable (such as diarrhea in the last two weeks, no diarrhea).
When running the cross-tab, an option is available to test the significance of the association using chi-square.
According to SPSS User's Guide, Chi-Square (Crosstabs) Tests the hypothesis that the row and column variables are independent, without indicating strength or direction of the relationship.
Pearson chi-square, likelihood-ratio chi-square, and linear-by-linear association chi-square are displayed. For 2x2 tables, Fisher's exact test is computed when a table that does not result from missing rows or columns in a larger table has a cell with an expected frequency of less than 5. Yates' corrected chi-square is computed for all other 2x2 tables.