Should we end daylight-saving time?
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.
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