(KLFY) — Setting clocks forward for the sake of later sunsets in Spring and Summer may have a negative impact on the body, according to studies.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of setting clocks forward an hour ahead of standard time at the beginning of Spring, then clocks are set back again to Standard Time in the Fall. The purpose is to make better use of natural daylight by shifting the time of sunrise and sunsets, but the effects of forcing a time change can have detrimental effects on our bodies. Timeanddate.com outlines the pros and cons of DST and the health risks that come with it.
DST begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday in November. “Springing forward” for daylight saving means losing an hour of sleep, which negatively affects the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm.
The start of DST is linked to risks like an increase in heart attacks, a rise in miscarriages for in vitro fertilization patients, and tiredness being a cause for traffic accidents.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) supports a switch to standard time and the elimination of daylight savings. The AASM said that standard time would “more closely align with the daily rhythms of the body’s internal clock.” Arizona and Hawaii are currently the only two states that do not observe DST, however, there are many states advocating for the opposite.
18 states are pushing to make the switch to year-round daylight savings. In order for this to happen, Congress would have to pass a federal law that allows states to observe DST year-round because the law currently only allows states to forgo DST, according to timeanddate.com. Louisiana House Bill 132 adopts DST as the standard time year-round, but it would have to be approved by Congress.
If that were to happen, those states would not “fall back” to standard time in November and remain in Daylight Saving Time year-round, meaning there would be no need to “spring forward” either, which could possibly eliminate the health risks that come with the time change in the Spring.
