Spacious kitchen, isn't it? Now imagine it filled with food. Bread, all sorts of cheeses, chips, cookies and candies on the island. Burgers frying on the stove. Chicken roasting in the oven. Tubs of ice cream in the freezer. Think of your favourite snacks and it might be your own kitchen.

An article in the Washington Post asks: Are Our Kitchens Making Us Fat?

Could our oversize kitchens have anything to do with our oversize selves? Could the advent of the spacious, open-plan kitchen as secondary living space -- a well-documented trend that has changed the way many new houses are designed -- be encouraging those of us who shouldn't be spending more time around food to do so?

It seems architects have spotted a rising trend amongst new homeowners to build bigger kitchens with correspondingly large pantries. They're wondering how close the connection is between large kitchens and obesity.

I know many families with spacious kitchens that they put into good use. Very often these become the centres of the household where family members take meals, do homework, just lounge around and even casually receive visitors. In these families, I haven't found anyone obese.

Large kitchens per se are not the issue. It is our attitude towards food that makes the difference. We can work or chat in the kitchen without having to eat everything in sight. Mindless munching is dangerous, so is eating to relieve stress. It also helps to be conscious of healthy eating. Carbonated drinks are out. Food with preservatives should be eaten very sparingly if at all.

Now, imagine the kitchen in the picture above filled with food. Home-made bread, all sorts of cheeses, nuts, grains. Fruit all you want, the smell of pasta sauce infused with herbs... the possibilities are endless! Big kitchens, small kitchens - in weight management, size doesn't matter.