Think fast food is especially unhealthy? When it comes to sodium, dine-in restaurant fare is even worse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would like both types of eateries to reduce sodium in their menu items – and it has suggestions for how to do that.

The Problem: Cooking and heating with solid fuels indoors pollutes the air and increases the risk of illness for nearly 3 billion people worldwide. This type of indoor air pollution is the leading cause of lung cancer and chronic lung disease among nonsmoking women in the world’s poorest communities.

Only one in six adults -- and only one in four binge drinkers -- says a health professional has ever discussed alcohol use with them even though drinking too much is harmful to health, according to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Particle pollution, or particulate matter, consists of particles that are in the air, including dust, dirt, soot and smoke, and little drops of liquid. Some particles, such as soot or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen. Other particles are so small that you cannot see them.

An asthma action plan is a written document developed by a healthcare provider and a person who has asthma (or a parent/guardian of a child with asthma). The plan outlines the steps that should be taken to prevent and handle an asthma episode and is customized for each individual with asthma.

Flu vaccination prevented an estimated 6.6 million influenza-associated illnesses, 3.2 million medically attended illnesses, and 79,000 hospitalizations during the 2012-2013 flu season, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

Engineered nanomaterials are materials that are intentionally produced and have at least one primary dimension less than 100 nanometers (nm). Nanomaterials have properties different from those of larger particles of the same material, making them unique and desirable for specific product applications. The consumer products market currently has more than 1,000 nanomaterial-containing products including makeup, sunscreen, food storage products, appliances, clothing, electronics, computers, sporting goods, and coatings [WWICS 2011].

Five decades after the approval of an extremely effective vaccine against measles, one of the world’s most contagious diseases, the virus still poses a threat to domestic and global health security.

Two million more children in the United States have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and one million more U.S. children were taking medication for ADHD over an 8 year period (2003-2004 to 2011-2012), according to a new study led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Blood mercury levels in women of childbearing age have dropped 34 percent in the past 14 years, according to a survey by the EPA. Additionally, the percentage of women of childbearing age with blood mercury levels above the level of concern decreased 65 percent from the 1999-2000 survey and follow-up surveys from 2001-2010.