The New York Times Magazine of April 18 carried this article that addresses one of my pet peeves – the abuse of our beautiful language. Actually the article is too kind to the word, focusing on the first use and evolution of the term. What benefit is there to a word that has a perfectly fine equivalent called – health?

Wellness has become a buzzword and a marketing term to promote all sorts of expensive maneuvers and services, often in the workplace, to improve the health of individuals, often involving incentives, paid consultants and the like. I have yet to see a scholarly report that establishes the effectiveness of such programs and their cost benefit. I believe it most likely that those who wish to be healthy need no external incentive or program, and are already taking care of themselves, and those who can’t or won’t engage in healthy choices in their lives are unlikely to be significantly persuaded by a workplace program.

How many people are in the dark about what it takes to be healthy, especially adults in the workforce?