That candy dish you leave on the coffee table isn’t doing you any favors. New research suggests simply putting food away — or at least out of sight — is a terrific way to keep temptation at bay and drive weight loss.

The study, by Ohio State University researchers, found that keeping food visibly available around the house, outside the kitchen, is a significant factor associated with obesity.

What’s more, the study published in the International Journal of Obesity, found that people who are obese keep more food visible throughout the house and generally eat less-healthy foods — such as sweets — than their leaner peers.

The findings held true even when the two groups of people tracked for the study spent about the same amount of money on food and reported eating similar amounts of total calories.

"The amount of food in the homes was similar, but in the homes of obese individuals, food was distributed in more locations outside the kitchen," said Charles Emery, professor of psychology at Ohio State and lead author of the study. "That speaks to the environment being arranged in a way that may make it harder to avoid eating food. That has not been clearly documented before."

For the study, Emery and colleagues tracked 100 participants between the ages of 20 and 78 — half of whom were obese. Researchers conducted a two-hour home visit with participants, interviewing them about food consumption, assessing the layout and food storage in the homes.

Those who were obese tended to have more food available and visible in rooms other than the kitchen.

"I do think the home environment is a really important place to focus on since that's where most people spend a majority of their time," Emery said. "For interventions, we should be thinking about the home as a place to start helping people establish what we know to be healthier habits and behaviors."