Daylight saving
time (DST) does not save energy, but it does increase the risk of heart
attack and fatal car accidents on the days following the change in the
spring; judgment is affected, as are scholastic scores and losses on the
stock market
The
repercussions are so significant, California has been fighting to keep
DST year-round, which was supported by nearly 60 percent of the voters
in the midterm elections
The practice of
moving the clocks ahead one hour in the spring and back one hour in the
fall started during WWI to save energy, but with changing technology,
it is no longer effective and the associated health dangers impact
people of all ages
Until DST is
abolished, you'll have to accommodate your sleep schedule twice a year.
Consider establishing consistent sleep routines to reduce the effect and
contacting your Congressperson to express your concerns
The repercussions associated with
daylight saving time (DST) are significant and prompted the placement
of California Proposition 7 on the ballot in this year's midterm
election. Nearly 60 percent voted in favor to leave the state in
daylight saving time all year.1
This begins laying the groundwork to give the California legislature
the ability to change their clocks permanently. This is similar to a
movement in August by the European Union (EU) when it announced it
recommends member states stop using DST, or “summer time,” as it's
known in the EU.2
While the European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker believes
countries should make their own decisions, he cited a recent poll
suggesting more than 80 percent of EU citizens no longer want a time
change every spring and fall.3
History of ‘Fast Time’
The practice of moving the clock an hour ahead in the summer and
back in the fall was initiated during World War I in the hope it would
save energy, and has more to do with international conflicts and
industry than with accommodating farmers.
When it was initially introduced in the U.S. in 1918 it was called “fast time.”4
The bill was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson in an effort
to support the war, and following the initiation of the same time
change in Germany in 1916.
The law was subsequently repealed after the war ended, and then
reinstated during World War II. Three weeks after World War II ended,
the law was again repealed. This essentially threw the U.S. into a
state of confusion, as state and local governments could start and stop
DST as they pleased.
In 1963, Time magazine called this a “chaos of clocks.”5 It wasn't until 1966, nearly 20 years later, that order was restored with the Uniform Time Act.6
The act standardized when DST would begin and end and gave states the
option to remain on standard time year-round. Hawaii and Arizona opted
out and remained on standard time.
In 2016, California passed a near-unanimous resolution to eventually change DST after failing to pass legislation.7
Although the Uniform Time Act gave some structure to how clocks are
set in the U.S.., it did not stop Congress from initiating changes.
In 1973, Congress determined DST should be observed all year.8
Then in 1974, the clocks were again moving forward in the spring and
falling back an hour in the fall. It wasn't until 1986 that the time
officially changed at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and the last
Sunday in October.
In 2005, Congress moved the fall date to the first Sunday in
November in response to prodding from sugar lobbyists who wanted more
daylight in the evening hours to accommodate trick or treaters on
Halloween night.9
The current times and dates for change have been in effect since 2007.
DST starts on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday
in November.10
DST Does Not Reduce Energy Use
The original intention of saving energy by extending daylight hours
during the summer months may actually have had the opposite effect.
Although lighting had been a significant portion of energy consumption
during World War I and World War II, it has become a much smaller part.
Extending daylight hours also encourages greater use of air
conditioning and heating. In 2008, the Department of Energy found an
almost imperceptible reduction in usage per day since the 2005
extension to include Halloween.11
A study by Yale economist Matthew Kotchen and Laura Grant, Ph.D.,
discovered homes and businesses in Indiana counties observing DST
experienced an increase of up to 4 percent of electricity when DST was
in effect.12 In another analysis of 44 different papers, researchers found that, on average, the policy helped save a mere 0.34 percent of electricity use.13
Locations further from the equator, with mild summers and low
cooling demands, may save energy, but geographical locations closer
actually used more energy during DST.
Kotchen notes when DST begins in the spring, people are waking
during the coldest and darkest part of the day, often turning up the
heat to stay warm, and during long evening hours, more air conditioning
is used, leading to an overall higher energy use.
Kotchen determined that turning the clocks forward increased
residential electricity demand and cost those in Indiana an extra $9
million per year, increasing emissions and impacting the environment.
He notes:14 “The way people use energy now is different from when daylight saving came about.”
Increasing Traffic Accidents and Heart Attacks
The biannual clock changes also have an impact on your physical
health. Researchers have noticed a statistically significant increase
in the number of car accidents, workplace injuries and heart attacks in
the days after the time changes in the spring. This might be related
to the loss of sleep, or may have deeper biological roots in your
circadian rhythms.
A University of Alabama study15
found the number of heart attacks increased by 10 percent on the
Monday and Tuesday following the time change to DST in the spring.
Interestingly, the number also decreased by 10 percent on the first
Monday and Tuesday after the clocks are switched back in the fall. Cardiac events
are more commonplace every Monday, greater than any other day of the
week, and are likely related to changes in sleep associated with the
transition from weekend to workday. This is known as the “Monday
cardiac phenomenon.”16 On the Monday and Tuesday following spring DST, the risk is even more pronounced.17
An earlier Swedish study18
discovered your chances of having a heart attack increase in the first
three weekdays after the switch to DST, and similarly decrease when
the clock is set back in the fall. Researchers compared the number of
admissions on the weeks before and the Monday after DST for four
consecutive years using a Michigan hospital database.19
On average there were 32 heart attacks on any given Monday, but on
the Monday immediately after DST there were an average of eight
additional heart attacks, suggesting to the researchers those who are
already vulnerable to heart disease may be at greater risk immediately
after a sudden time change.
Research data have also found road accidents increase in the first two days following DST, as do falls.20 Additionally, fatal alcohol-related traffic accidents increase for the first week after setting the clocks ahead21 and 67.6 percent more work days are lost as a result of injuries following the change to DST.22 Suicide rates for men also rise in the weeks following DST.23
Circadian Rhythms and Judgment Adversely Affected by DST
Once DST is implemented, productivity and quality of life scores
drop. Till Roenneberg, a Russian chronobiologist, reports that most
people show "drastically decreased productivity," decreased quality of
life, increased illness, and are "just plain tired"24 in the week after DST in the spring.
Disruptions in your sleep pattern tend to cascade throughout your
entire body. For instance, sleep helps reset your neural circuits that
are impaired during sleep deprivation. With too little sleep, your cognitive flexibility suffers.
Research from the University of Washington found cognitive
inflexibility effects even judges who are handing down sentences. On
the Monday after DST in the spring, longer sentences are imposed on
people who have been found guilty.25
A similar negative effect has been found in students. Researchers
compared 10 years of SAT scores from Indiana where only 15 of the
state's 92 counties moved their clocks forward during the study period.
The data indicated an average 16-point drop in scores when students
were tested after the clocks changed in the spring.26
The researchers extrapolated this data, finding the difference in
SAT scores may equate to an economic loss of over $1.2 billion
annually. In similar findings, researchers concluded DST adversely
affected sleep patterns of high school students and their ability to be vigilant at school.27
Note: One reason Indiana is used as a discussion model for DST is
because it lies smack-dab between Central and Eastern time zones.
Geographically, it’s actually in the Central zone, but in 2006 it
adopted the standardized DST to align with Eastern Standard Time
changes. The decision has been controversial in Indiana, where the
western part of the state wants to align with the Central zone, while
the eastern part favors aligning with Ohio’s Eastern zone.28,29
Increasing Financial and Health Costs From DST
Financial losses are also felt in the stock market. An analysis published in the American Economic Review30
revealed an impact on the function of the financial markets each time
the clocks changed. The scientists found desynchronized sleep was a
reasonable explanation for the effect on the market that happened on
the two weekends when the time changes, different from other Mondays.
They said:31
“The magnitude of the daylight savings effect, roughly 200 to
500 percent of the regular weekend effect, is both statistically and
economically significant in several international financial markets. In
the United States alone, the daylight savings affect implies a one-day
loss of $31 billion on the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ exchanges.”
Employers also suffer a significant loss in productivity. In an
evaluation of how individuals were using internet access on the day
following the time change, researchers examined search patterns over
six years in over 200 American metro areas.32
On the Monday immediately following the time change they found an
increase in searches for entertainment or related categories greater
than on the Mondays before and after. They concluded, as much of this
was conducted during work hours, misused internet access — called
cyberloafing — was reducing productivity in workers.
Based on findings from this study, and another demonstrating an
increased incidence of heart attacks, economist estimated the annual
cost to the American economy each spring in lost productivity and
health care was nearly $434 million.33
Keeping DST all year may also result in a reduction in crime rates.
Researchers discovered that when the clocks are turned back an hour in
the fall, crime rates rise. Most crime occurs between 5 p.m. and 8:30
p.m. With greater ambient lighting, criminals may have a more difficult
time targeting victims.34
The researchers estimate that if DST were to remain in effect during
the entire year, it could result in a $59 million annual social cost
savings from robberies avoided. Since different countries change their
times on different days, the airline industry estimates DST costs them
an average of $147 million a year.35
Tips to Protect Your Health During DST
In addition to the strong recommendation of getting eight hours of
sleep on a consistent basis, there are some other things you can do to
mitigate the effects of the time change until the powers that be decide
to get rid of it.
University of Alabama associate professor Martin Young suggests the
following natural strategies to help your body resync after the time
change:36
Wake up 30 minutes earlier on Saturday and Sunday, to minimize the impact of getting up earlier on Monday morning
Go outside in the sunlight in the early morning
Exercise in the mornings over the weekend, in accordance with your overall level of health and fitness
Consider setting your clock ahead on Friday evening, allowing an extra day to adjust over the weekend
To those recommendations, I would add:
Be particularly mindful of using electronic devices in the days prior to the switch-over. Research37
on teens shows that using electronics for four hours during the day can
increase your risk of needing more than an hour to fall asleep by
nearly 50 percent.
Using any device for more than two hours per day increases the
likelihood of needing more than an hour to fall asleep by 20 percent.
So, if you've ever considered "unplugging" for a day or two, the
weekend of the DST switch-over is a perfect time to turn everything
off, or cut down your use of electronics to a bare minimum so that you
can optimize your sleep.
Pay attention to your diet, making sure you are
consuming plenty of fresh, whole foods, preferably organic, and minimal
amounts of processed foods and fast foods; keep your sugar consumption
low, especially fructose. I invite you to review our total nutrition plan here.
Practice good sleep hygiene, including sleeping in
complete darkness, checking your bedroom for electromagnetic fields,
and keeping your bedroom temperature no higher than 70 degrees
Fahrenheit; for a full report about how to maximize the quality of your
sleep, see “Sleep — Why You Need It and 50 Ways to Improve It.”
Optimize your vitamin D level to boost your immune function.
Manage your stress with whatever stress-busting techniques work for you.
Consider supplementing with melatonin if you have trouble sleeping.
If you have a fitness tracker that tracks sleep,
start using it. If you don't have one, you may want to consider getting
one. During DST, making sure you're getting enough sleep may be more
important than ever.
One of the keys to optimizing your sleep is going to bed early
enough, because if you have to get up at 6:30 a.m., you're just not
going to get enough sleep if you go to bed after midnight. Chances are
you're getting at least 30 minutes less sleep than you think, as most
people do not fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow.
Many fitness trackers can now track both daytime body movement and
sleep, allowing you to get a better picture of how much sleep you're
actually getting.
Last but not least, to encourage your legislature to change DST, consider signing a petition to your Congresspersons and getting involved in your state to pass a resolution.
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