A sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet may not just be adding pounds to your frame—it could be taking years from your life.

From the White House to the classroom to the kitchen table, a lot of f ocus has been devoted to the troubling issue of obesity in the United States. Though awareness of the issue might be increasing, is the problem being solved?

Obesity in adults is linked to increased risks of esophageal cancer, a nasty disease that’s on the rise in the US, Europe and Israel. Researchers have now discovered that being overweight earlier in life may also influence cancer risks.

While only a small percentage of children have high blood pressure, those who do may face serious health problems. Overweight children may be especially at risk yet show no signs.

How much people sleep can have an impact on their health. However, the relationship between sleep duration and chronic diseases has not been well studied. A recent study was conducted to examine sleep duration in relationship to various illnesses.

Gastric bypass surgery is a popular procedure that helps patients lose weight by limiting the amount of food the body can consume. A recent study has found that a follow-up procedure known as body contouring can help patients maintain a healthy weight years after bypass surgery.

High blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, and extra weight all have one thing in common - they can raise a person's risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke. As it turns out, there is something else they have in common - they can be improved with diet.

Obesity doesn't just lead to conditions that can cause issues over time; it can also bring about daily pain in the body. This pain, often in the joints or the back, may lead some obese people to rely on certain pain medications — a topic explored in a new study.

Diet and exercise are two things that heavier adults are told to consider when seeking relief from pain in the knees. With osteoarthritis, exercise by itself might not be enough to reduce the stress placed on those joints.

For obese diabetes patients, surgery to lose weight has become an increasingly popular way to improve their health. Some have experienced long-term remission and reduced their medication use.