A first-year college student resolves to meet the challenge of making new friends. A long-sedentary senior starts riding her bike to school every day instead of taking the bus. A busy graduate student volunteers to plant trees in a blighted inner-city neighborhood. What do these people have in common? Each is striving for optimal health and well-being. Not satisfied to be merely free of major illness, these individuals want more. They want to live life actively, energetically, and fully, in a state of optimal personal, interpersonal, and environmental well-being. They have taken charge of their health and are on the path to wellness.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to Describe the dimensions of wellness

Identify the major health problems in the United States today, and discuss their causes

Describe the behaviors that are part of a fit and well lifestyle

Explain the steps in creating a behavior management plan to change a wellnessrelated behavior

Discuss the available sources of wellness information and how to think critically about them