Health Uncle:Johnson and Johnson Adopts Wellness

As well as making pharmaceuticals,medical devices and diagnostics,health care titan Johnson and Johnson reaches consumers directly through its consumer health division.This branch of the company produces retail health care products such as its iconic baby shampoo and Band-Aid bandages,Listerine antiseptic mouth wash and the Neutrogena skin care line.Recently,the company has been augmenting this division with healthy lifestyle firms such as HealthMedia,Inc. and Human Performance Institute.These subsidiaries promote employee wellness,saving time that would have been lost to illness,and keeping insurance costs lower.Both lifestyle firms were acquired last year.J and J hopes to make billions of dollars from wellness businesses,expanding its holdings through partnerships and licensing as well as acquisitions.Johnson and Johnson is one of the most widely recommended stocks,given the breadth and value of its branded assets.That a major firm has adopted wellness into its business plan shows that the concept has genuinely arrived.