Young Workforce Heart Health Report 2026

Key findings

• 58.5% of India Inc. employees under 35 had at least one flagged heart-risk marker in 2026.

  Heart risk is commonly associated with people in their 40s and 50s. ekincare's health-check data shows it is already visible in the under-35 workforce.

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• 60% of under-35 employees with a normal BMI still had another heart-risk marker flagged.

  Cholesterol-related markers were the most common. A BMI-only wellness check misses most at-risk young employees.

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• 23.6% of under-35 employees had two or more heart-risk factors flagged at once.

  Cholesterol-related markers were the most likely to occur together.

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• Young men were more likely than young women to carry a heart-risk marker: 67.6% vs 53.2%.

  A 14.4 percentage-point gap between men and women under 35.

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• Blood sugar is the one marker moving in the wrong direction, up 4.3 percentage points since 2023.

  Cholesterol and blood pressure markers eased over the same period, while blood sugar rose sharply in 2024 and has not returned to its 2023 level.

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• Employees who returned for a second health check were about twice as likely to improve as to decline (43.0% vs 19.8%).

  Repeat check-ups are linked to employees getting healthier over time, not just to tracking risk.

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