Is Your Kitchen Making You Fat?

April 7, 2006 — -- Could the size of your kitchen make you fat?

The Washington Post recently asked this question, and at least one architect thinks the answer is yes.

"When you are putting so much emphasis on the kitchen -- while it is a very nice idea -- you are also inherently putting an emphasis on food and that can be asking for trouble," architect Aric Chen said.

When June Cleaver ran the kitchen, it was just a tiny work space, big enough for cooking and that's about it. Now, fast-forward 50 years to the era of the megakitchen and the mega-American. Today, the average American kitchen is about 225 square feet -- almost three times the size of the kitchens of the '50s -- and the average American weighs approximately 34 pounds more than Americans did 50 years ago.

With more room to the kitchen, there's room for more than just cooking. The kitchen has become the family room, the TV room and a workroom. All that extra time in the kitchen can lead to unhealthy snacking.

"The downside of these big kitchens is the temptation to fill them with everything that tastes good," said Dr. Naomi Neufeld of the UCLA School of Medicine.

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ABC's Heather Nauert reported this story for "Good Morning America."