Sept 17th 2026 - Heart Rate Variability, sleep score and glucose monitoring are a few of the many health metrics Brits are now tracking daily via wearables. Knowing your numbers has become the new health flex - now 45% of Brits own wearable health technology, 34 percent of people in the UK use a smartwatch or fitness tracker on a regular basis, and a quarter (25%) checking their health data once a day or more, according to new research commissioned by the health technology company Neko Health.

More than one in three (35%) of wearable users say that reviewing data from health tech makes them feel motivated, and 15% feel more hopeful about their future health. More than half (51%) also say insights from health technology have encouraged them to increase physical activity.

But fluency in these metrics does not equal understanding. The Neko Health study of over 2,000 UK adults, found that while 89 percent of wearable users feel confident understanding their data, only 8 percent of wearable users who check their data have sought expert medical advice based on what their devices, health apps or AI tools are telling them. But many are filling the gap themselves: over half (55%) of Brits have used online tools, apps or AI to self-diagnose a health issue.

Despite all the access to health information, confidence in recognising the warning signs of serious conditions remains low. More than half of UK adults are not confident in recognising warning signs associated with high cholesterol (63%), cancer (55%), and heart disease (53%). More than one in five of UK adults (21%) say they never check for signs of cancer, while almost a quarter (23%) never check for symptoms linked to heart health.

“People are more data-rich than ever - and that motivation is genuinely encouraging,” says Dr Nikita Kanani MBE, Global Medical Director at Neko Health. “But data without context can be as confusing as it is helpful, and in some cases it leads people to miss something serious or to worry unnecessarily about something minor. Clinical judgement is what turns tracking into understanding.

“Giving clinicians longitudinal data from wearables does two things: it builds a fuller picture of a member's health, and it lets us explain what that data actually means and how to act on it. That's an opportunity most people don't get elsewhere.

“And the positive impact extends beyond Neko members. Since we integrated wearable data, clinicians have used it to build a fuller picture of a member's lifestyle over time, and that's sharpened the advice we give. "

For those who felt anxious or concerned after reviewing wearable data, 17% said they did nothing about it because they felt too worried to look into it further. And 22% said they did nothing because life simply got in the way.

Demand for proactive care is rising. More than half of UK adults (58%) who own or would consider

owning a wearable health tracker, say they would find it valuable to access a face-to-face medical professional who could help them understand and act on their health data. And 44 percent say they would be likely to pay for a medical screening if they knew it could provide early detection of cancer or chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease or metabolic syndrome.

Among those who have actively wanted professional help interpreting their health data but couldn’t access it, cost (34%) and limited availability in their area (25%) were the most commonly cited barriers.

TV doctor and GP Dr Hilary Jones said: “The appetite for improved health awareness is voracious, and wearable technology is capable of achieving that. It can do all kinds of clever things - it can accurately monitor fitness levels, sleep patterns, blood glucose, oxygen levels and heart rate, and promote motivation and behavioural change as a result.

“But just as medical information on the Internet needs to be interpreted by a knowledgeable healthcare professional, so does data recorded and stored on a wearable device. Now, healthcare professionals can observe longitudinal data from wearables that provide a more comprehensive view of a person’s health and can translate what the data measures and what can be done to improve overall health.

“The Neko survey shows over half of people say that accessing a face-to-face health care professional to make sense of the data would be valuable in detecting significant health issues, but in truth, we would like 100% of people to be doing just that.”

Hjalmar Nilsonne, CEO and co-founder of Neko Health, says, “People are already generating an incredible volume of health data by using wearables, and at Neko, we sought to put this valuable data to use. By combining members' wearable data with their heart, skin, and biomarker data from the Neko scan, this provides a much richer picture of how someone is really living, and can best indicate risk for metabolic disease.”

New findings from Neko Health’s Year Three Data Report, its largest health dataset to date, looking at over 80,000 Neko Health members across the UK and Sweden, show that returning members’ hearts aged by an average of eight months while 12 calendar months passed, meaning their heart age increased more slowly than their calendar age. Additionally, a third of members reported exercising more, while roughly half of those doing no exercise at their first scan reported doing some by their next. One in four (26%) smokers reported quitting by their second scan. Among those who quit, average heart age fell by 30.7 months, compared with a 9.7-month increase among those who continued smoking.

The Neko Health scan takes around 60 minutes and combines millions of data points across the body, including the heart, blood, skin, and metabolic health. The experience is non-invasive and radiation-free, with results available during your visit. Members then sit down with a clinician to understand what their results mean and provide actionable insights.

Neko Health's full-body scanning clinics are located in London, Birmingham and Manchester, and members with upcoming scan bookings can download the Neko Health App on iOS and connect to Apple Health to bring wearable data – steps, sleep, heart rate variability and more – directly into their scan experience. This gives Neko Health clinicians the context to offer more targeted, personalized guidance. On repeat visits, wearables data helps explain year-on-year changes, so clinicians can act on the cause, not just the metric.

Notes to Editors

For more information, interview requests, or case studies, please contact: neko@ragency.com

Methodology: Research was carried out by YouGov on behalf of Neko Health. Total sample size was 2,093 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd–25th May 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

About Neko Health

Neko Health is a health technology company founded in Stockholm in 2018 by Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne. Neko Health designs and engineers its own hardware, software, and clinical protocols entirely in-house, powering a one-hour full-body Neko Health Scan delivered across clinics in Stockholm, London, Manchester and Birmingham. Neko Health is expanding to the United States in 2026.

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