Consumers are increasingly concerned about their health, and that includes ensuring their homes are healthy, too.

As a designer, you know how to create spaces and select products and finishes that will provide your clients with a safer and healthier living environment. But do you know you can also encourage them to adopt more healthy eating habits? The design choices you make in a kitchen can make a difference.

Making better eating choices to improve health and lose weight has been a growing trend in recent years. Surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Nielsen find that about half of all adults say they now are more food and diet conscious. And they are looking for whatever help they can get, from recommendations as to how they should eat to more informative food labeling.

Designers can provide a valuable service by recommending changes or improvements in the home, especially the kitchen, that will encourage healthier choices and eating habits.

According to a review of research on the topic carried out by a group at Cornell University in 2007, "Microgeographies of built environments [including room design and furniture] provide a subtle, pervasive and often unconscious influence on food choices, food intake, obesity and health." The researchers conclude, "Re-engineering built environments may offer opportunities to shape food intake."

Similarly, another review of research done at Georgia State University states, "The literature suggests that there are major influences of ambience on eating behavior and that the magnitude of the effect of ambience may be underestimated." Their findings suggest "the manipulation of these ambient factors as a whole or individually may be used therapeutically to alter food intake."

Studies conducted in a variety of interior environments have found several key factors that influence occupants' eating choices. If you've ever spent an evening alone with a carton of Ben & Jerry's — just by way of example you know mood has a big influence on the eating choices you make. And a big factor influencing mood is light.

Research in restaurants and schools has shown a well-lit space, especially one with lots of natural light and nature views, helps put people in a frame of mind to eat more healthily. For those who are weight conscious, a recent study by another team of researchers at Cornell University found people who eat in brightly lit rooms tend to eat less, whereas those in dimly lit rooms tend to overindulge.

Color is another important factor. Red, for example, can be a warning signal, and in one study subjects who were offered snacks on either blue or red plates tended to eat less if handed a red plate. Of course, color itself can be affected by other environmental factors and by the viewer. But placing a red appliance near a cupboard may help to deter occupants from reaching mindlessly for a snack between meals.

On the hand, green is a welcoming and attractive color. Setting a basket of fruit on a green surface will make the healthier choice more appealing.

Layout and positioning of food storage (visibility and proximity) also play a significant role in influencing eating behavior. A recently published study of food choices in an office setting discovered that when employees had to walk a few extra feet to travel from a beverage machine to snack machine, they were less likely to purchase a snack than if the beverage and snack machine were next to one another.

Students in school cafeterias are more likely to choose a healthy meal option if it is in closer reach than a less healthy but more tempting option that is farther away. Solid doors keep temptation out of sight more effectively than open shelves, glass cupboard doors or see-through panels on refrigerators.

Nearly 50 percent of the homeowners responding to a 2014 Houzz survey said preventing health problems and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are motivating factors for home renovation. When you design your next kitchen, talk with the clients about whether they would like to improve their eating habits. They likely will be surprised to learn what you can do for them.