A new study published by the Kim Rollings assistant professor at Notre Dame in the Journal of Environment and Behavior suggests that open kitchens may lead to people overeating. In a study conducted by the professor on 57 students, at the University, it was found that students in the group that used the open kitchen consumed 170 calories on an average more than those in the control group.

The control group was serviced from a closed kitchen. The group in the open kitchen, was seen making multiple trips to the kitchen. This proves that theory that open access to food, makes it possible for participants to overeat.

A similar logic is used as a treatment for addiction to tobacco and alcohol, where ease of access leads to a situation where the de-addiction programs fail. Most people who quit cigarettes are  would asked not to visit places where they would have access to cigarettes. It is a similar situation with alcohol.

A lot of people design open kitchens in their apartments, but the openess of the floor plan would encourage people to eat more. When architects and designers come up with kitchen designs, this study might come in handy to help people maintain their health. Overeating is one of the most critical factors for obesity in India and who would have realized  that one of the reasons for obesity could be the design of the kitchen. There are 30 Million people labelled obese in India, BMI over 25. Out of this 10 million are men and 20 million are women. Maybe the access to the kitchen for women causes them to be more obese then the men.

Maybe that should be the focus of the new research.