New Delhi: More than half of the millennials aged between 30 and 44 years are overweight, and nearly one in two persons aged 45 years and above has high blood pressure, a metabolic wellness study, conducted across Delhi-NCR on 4,000 people, has found.The study screened the 4,000 people on 20 metabolic health parameters. The findings revealed that 55.7% of millennials are overweight, compared with about 25% of Gen Z participants under 30, indicating a sharp rise in metabolic risk within a decade.Those born between 1965 to 1980 are Gen X and those born between 1981 to 1996 are Gen Y or millennial.The OneHealth Total Metabolic Wellness Study, 2026, was conducted by Pacific OneHealth across Delhi-NCR. Among Gen X and older participants (45 years or older), 46.9% were found to have hypertension, while 70.9% had dangerous levels of visceral fat, a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.The study also identified 176 people with normal Body Mass Index (BMI) but elevated visceral fat levels, highlighting the limitations of relying solely on BMI to assess health risks.According to Dr Mohsin Wali, senior consultant and director of medicine at Pacific OneHealth, the findings pointed to a “detection failure” rather than a disease problem. He said metabolic disorders often begin in a person’s twenties and remain undetected for years because conventional health check-ups fail to measure critical indicators such as visceral fat.The report found that average body fat levels nearly doubled from 14.5% among Gen Z participants to 27.3% among those aged 45 and above. It identified the 30-44 age group as a crucial intervention window before the onset of serious cardiovascular complications.Dr Swadeep Srivastava, president of Pacific OneHealth, said India has built strong capabilities for treating advanced diseases but continues to lag in preventive healthcare.He called for specialist-led metabolic screening and year-round wellness monitoring to curb the growing burden of lifestyle diseases.
