Should we end daylight-saving time?

Insider

Moving clocks forward by an hour might seem harmless. But many are calling for an end to daylight-saving time because it could harm our health.

Transcript

00:00 (keyboard clacking)

00:01 Daylight savings is actually incredibly controversial

00:04 and the American Medical Association

00:06 is pushing for us to end daylight savings

00:09 and just go to standard time

00:10 because of the damage that it does to our bodies.

00:12 I'm Mia de Graaf, I'm a health editor at Business Insider.

00:16 (alarm ringing)

00:17 So daylight savings was implemented

00:19 as a sort of post-war measure to save energy.

00:22 The idea was that if you move the clocks forward an hour,

00:26 then the daylight will linger longer into the evening.

00:29 So then you don't need to use electricity

00:32 and be using energy in those evenings.

00:34 About a third of the world observes daylight savings.

00:37 Most of those countries are in Europe.

00:39 In the US, every state except for Hawaii and Arizona

00:43 observe daylight savings.

00:44 In Mexico, recently, they got rid of daylight savings

00:47 but made an exception for states that are near

00:50 the US border because it's so ubiquitous here.

00:52 If you ask doctors about daylight savings,

00:55 they're pretty uniform in their belief

00:57 that this is bad for our health,

00:59 particularly that spring forward

01:01 when we lose an hour of sleep

01:02 and it's darker in the mornings and lighter in the evenings.

01:05 The main issue is that it affects our natural hormone cycle.

01:09 Our bodies are in tune with the outside world.

01:13 We're reacting to how our society is set up

01:15 and then also the world that we live in,

01:17 so daylight and nighttime.

01:19 During the day, your circadian rhythm,

01:21 our body's natural cycle, is playing this intricate dance

01:24 where your different hormones are triggering

01:26 different things that will allow you to conduct yourself.

01:29 So it's speeding up your metabolism.

01:32 It's triggering digestion and hunger at different times.

01:35 That way, you have the energy to move about the day

01:38 and experience things.

01:39 At night, when the nightfall comes,

01:41 that's when your body releases melatonin.

01:43 It makes you sleepy, it makes you want to sleep,

01:46 and sleep is so crucial during that period

01:48 because that's when we also release growth hormones.

01:51 Your body temperature also decreases,

01:53 which conserves energy, and that's when your brain

01:56 does memory consolidation.

01:58 So it's really crucial that we're allowing our bodies

02:01 to follow through this cycle of the circadian rhythm.

02:06 When you throw it off kilter,

02:07 that can have very serious short and long-term impacts.

02:11 So once you're defying your circadian rhythm,

02:13 you're basically triggering jet lag,

02:15 and jet lag has impacts such as inflammation.

02:19 It throws your stress hormones into disarray.

02:21 These are the kinds of things that are linked

02:23 to higher rates of diabetes, higher rates of obesity,

02:27 hypertension, doing that on a regular basis,

02:29 you know, flying to different countries all the time

02:32 would put your body at risk of those things.

02:34 Doctors believe that springing our clocks forward

02:38 once a year, every year, is an unnecessary measure

02:41 that's putting us all at risk of this.

02:43 It takes us weeks or even months

02:45 to adapt to that new rhythm.

02:47 Another negative impact is the rise in car crashes.

02:50 A study in 2020 looked at 730,000 deadly car crashes

02:55 that happened from 1996 to 2017.

02:58 They found that there was a 6% higher chance of accidents

03:01 in the weeks after the clocks changed

03:03 for daylight saving time in the spring.

03:05 The study estimated that during those 22 years,

03:07 around 627 deaths could be linked

03:11 to this change in the clocks.

03:12 Everyone's starting their day in the dark,

03:14 drivers on the road are sleepy and driving in the dark,

03:17 pedestrians, including kids going to school,

03:20 are walking around in the dark.

03:22 It just increases the risk of car accidents.

03:24 There's also a link between daylight savings time

03:27 and an increased risk of heart attacks.

03:30 So the Monday after we spring the clocks forward,

03:33 we see a 25% increase in heart attack hospital visits.

03:37 Conversely, the Tuesday after our clocks fall back,

03:41 we see a 21% decrease in heart attack hospital visits.

03:45 It's not clear exactly why this happens,

03:47 but researchers believe that the shift forward

03:51 disrupts sleep cycles and increases stress

03:54 to such an extent that it compounds

03:56 with other medical conditions.

03:57 Daylight savings time is associated with poor mental health,

04:02 and it kind of works both ways.

04:04 So when you spring the clock forward,

04:06 it can throw your mood off because the mornings are darker

04:10 and you're not getting that sun exposure in the morning.

04:12 Sun exposure in the morning is really associated

04:14 with a good mood.

04:15 But then because we sprang them forward,

04:17 they have to fall back.

04:18 And when they do fall back,

04:19 it's such a stark shift as we're entering into winter.

04:23 And we do see this increase in depression.

04:25 In a study in 2017, researchers found an 11% increase

04:30 in hospital visits for depression

04:32 when the clocks fell back in the fall.

04:34 Daylight savings time also impacts our productivity.

04:37 So when you spring the clocks forward,

04:39 you lose an hour of sleep.

04:40 Surprise, surprise, you're not so productive on Monday.

04:43 The week after daylight savings time comes into effect,

04:45 we see an increase in what's known as cyber loafing,

04:49 which is the act of wasting time online while at work.

04:52 Studies have found that people are at work

04:54 and they're browsing websites that aren't related to work

04:57 because they're feeling sluggish, they're feeling tired.

05:00 So if you're feeling a little sluggish, you're not special.

05:03 We're all experiencing the same.

05:05 It's really natural.

05:06 So politicians have been up in arms

05:08 about daylight savings time for years.

05:11 And actually in 2022, a bill was introduced in the Senate,

05:15 which was called the Sunshine Protection Act.

05:17 The goal of the Sunshine Protection Act

05:19 was to make daylight saving time permanent year round

05:22 for every state in the US, except for Hawaii and Arizona.

05:26 It was voted for and it halted in the House.

05:28 So it didn't pass through.

05:29 But doctors were actually really glad

05:31 that it didn't pass through

05:32 because you would have dark mornings pretty much year round.

05:35 Doctors were saying what we really need

05:37 is permanent standard time.

05:39 That's what Hawaii has, that's what Arizona has,

05:42 that's what Indiana had until recently.

05:44 Right now, there are 19 states

05:46 pushing for permanent daylight saving time.

05:49 There are also nine states

05:50 pushing for permanent standard time.

05:52 Everyone is always arguing about it.

05:54 We're not gonna come to a consensus.

05:56 But the interesting thing is,

05:57 we actually tried this in the '70s.

05:59 During the oil crisis and energy crisis of the '70s,

06:02 the US implemented permanent daylight saving time in 1974.

06:07 It was an absolute disaster.

06:09 Everyone hated it.

06:10 There was an increase in car crashes.

06:12 Kids weren't getting much sleep.

06:14 It was abolished within a year.

06:15 Here are a few things you can do

06:16 to offset the negative effects of daylight saving time.

06:19 Stay active.

06:20 Regular exercise is just gonna help your body

06:22 get back into its natural rhythm.

06:24 Try to anticipate your sleep schedule.

06:26 If you can, change your clock

06:27 and think about it the night before.

06:29 That will help you get into the mindset.

06:31 (upbeat music)

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