Heart risk before 35? Nearly 6 in 10 young workers show warning markers

World Heart Day 2026: A report by digital health benefits platform ekincare found that 58.5% of employees under 35 had at least one flagged cardiovascular risk marker in 2026 year-to-date data

Cardiovascular risk is showing up well before the age at which heart disease is often associated with the working population, according to a new report.

 

Based on the health check-up data from 200,000 employees across the country, the Young Workforce Heart Health Report 2026 by ekincare, a digital health benefits platform, found that 58.5 per cent of employees under 35 had at least one flagged cardiovascular risk marker in 2026 year-to-date data.

 

This does not mean that 58.5 per cent of these employees have cardiovascular disease. The report uses a set of health markers such as blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipids to identify employees with at least one result that may indicate cardiovascular risk.

 

 

The report’s broader finding is that age and body weight alone do not give a complete picture of heart health among younger employees. Of those under 35 with a normal body mass index (BMI), 60 per cent still had at least one other flagged marker, with cholesterol-related measures accounting for a significant share. The report also found that 23.6 per cent of under-35 employees had two or more risk factors flagged at the same time.

Blood sugar moves in the wrong direction

The report's four-year comparison presents a more mixed picture. Overall flagged cardiovascular risk among employees under 35 stood at 58.5 per cent in 2026 year-to-date, compared with 70.9 per cent in 2023, a decline of 12.4 percentage points. However, the report specifically cautions against interpreting this as proof that the underlying health of young employees has improved.

 

One reason is that the mix of people taking health checks has changed, with a larger share of first-time testers in recent years. First-time testers tend to have fewer flagged markers simply because it is their first check. The report therefore says the safer conclusion is that cardiovascular risk has not increased among young employees, rather than that their underlying health has improved.

 

Within that broader picture, however, blood sugar was the exception. While cholesterol and blood pressure markers have eased since 2023, the share of employees flagged for blood sugar risk has risen by 4.3 percentage points, with a sharp increase recorded in 2024. Raised blood glucose is an established cardiovascular risk factor.

Risk differs by age, gender and location

In the report's age-group comparison, employees classified as millennials aged 28–40 had a 66.8 per cent flagged rate, compared with 48.4 per cent for Gen Z employees aged 20–27, an 18.4 percentage-point gap. The report says millennials saw improvement across every marker measured since 2023, while Gen Z recorded increases in two markers.

 

Gen Z's HDL cholesterol marker rose by 7.4 points and blood sugar by 1.3 points since 2023, even though overall risk among young employees had not increased.

 

Gender differences were also visible. Men had a 67.6 per cent flagged rate compared with 53.2 per cent for women, a gap of 14.4 percentage points. Employees using healthcare providers in metro locations recorded a 63.1 per cent flagged rate, compared with 59 per cent for those using providers in non-metro locations.

Repeat checks point to scope for intervention

Among this group, 43 per cent saw their risk factors decline, while 19.8 per cent saw them increase and 37.2 per cent recorded no change. The report says the finding suggests repeat health checks can be useful not only for tracking risk but also in the context of changes in employee health. According to the report, employees who return for a second check may differ systematically from those who do not, including in their motivation to change their health behaviour.

 

The report recommends adding cholesterol and blood sugar screening, tracking blood sugar earlier and using a broader set of markers to identify employees who may otherwise be missed by BMI-only checks.

 

WHO has identified cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death globally and says raised blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipids are important intermediate risk factors.