New Owaves survey of 1,000 college students reveals the missing piece in student wellbeing: understanding your own body clock.
The average college student spends $1,070 a year on wellness products and trackers. Yet nearly half say they’ve felt anxious and overwhelmed (47%) or emotionally exhausted (47%) in the past month. More data, more money spent — not more wellbeing.
That’s the central finding of The Body Clock Report, Owaves’ inaugural survey of 1,000 U.S. college students, including 400 athletes. The gap isn’t more tracking; it’s a single, teachable piece of knowledge: understanding your circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock that helps regulate sleep, wakefulness, hormone release, and other biological processes over a 24-hour cycle.
Students who understand their circadian rhythm are measurably less anxious, less lonely, and less burned out than those who don’t. Among athletes, that same understanding is tied to a 21% lower rate of fatigue-related injury and performance setbacks.
“I’d like to see young people shift from ‘sleepmaxxing’ to ‘rhythmmaxxing‘,” said Royan Kamyar, M.D., MBA, Founder and CEO of Owaves, “aligning meals, movement, deep work, and sleep to the body’s natural 24-hour rhythm.”
For university and athletic leaders, the report points to a low-cost opportunity: circadian literacy is teachable – and with the right knowledge and tools – tied to real gains in student mental health and performance.
The Body Clock Report breaks down what students revealed about sleep, stress, and their internal clock. Plus, there’s an Athlete Edition on the performance cost of fatigue.
Download the full Body Clock Report below.