Definition
COOKWHERE (HV241) reports whether food for the household was cooked inside the dwelling unit, in a separate building, or outdoors.
If cooking is done over an open fire, then household members' exposure to indoor air pollution (and associated risk of respiratory diseases) is greatest when cooking is done in the house, rather than in a separate building or outdoors.
The information in COOKWHERE is taken from the household record and applies to regular household residents, not temporary visitors. Researchers may wish to exclude visitors using the RESIDENT variable (with visitors coded "2") when women, children, or births are the unit of analysis, and using the HHRESIDENT variable when household members are the unit of analysis.