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In several countries in Europe, the clocks will be turned back an hour earlier on Sunday, marking the end of daylight saving time.

This seasonal time shift occurs twice a year, switching to Daylight Savings Time (DST) in the spring, when the clocks move forward one hour, and returning to standard time in the fall.

Although changing the clock has been a standardized practice for years and is common in most of Europe and the United States, and parts of Canada, Australia and Latin America, health experts warn that it can be harmful to people’s well-being.

Earlier this week, a team of sleep researchers from the British Sleep Society published a position statement urging the British government to abolish the biannual clock changes.

The statement, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, advocates adopting a standard time year-round because it better reflects “the natural light-dark cycles of day and night.”

“Restoring permanent standard time would mean that our clocks would be closely aligned with solar time, and while this would mean earlier sunsets in the summer, there would be additional health benefits from better sleep and circadian alignment due to the increased exposure to morning sunlight from autumn onwards. to spring,” Malcolm von Schantz, professor of chronobiology at Northumbria University and member of the Northumbria Center for Sleep Research, said in a statement.

The researchers added that maintaining a good sleep routine and exposure to natural daylight in the morning are important components of human health and that disruptions in any of these factors could lead to negative health effects.

“If you don’t get that morning light exposure, you’re not regulating your body clock as well as you could, and there’s really a specific time in the morning when you need that light exposure to help you regulate. body clock, and this allows you to fall asleep early enough in the evening,” Dr Megan Crawford, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Strathclyde and lead author of the statement, told Euronews Health.

“If you don’t do that, you’re burning the candle at both ends, and then you lose that sleep at night, you get poor sleep quality, and poor sleep quality is linked to a lot of things. of health outcomes, both mental and physical health,” she added.

What are the health consequences of daylight saving time?

One of the main reasons given by experts in favor of ending the seasonal time change is its impact on the human circadian rhythm.

The circadian rhythm is the body’s biological clock, which works on a 24-hour cycle and, according to the researchers, plays a role in regulating essential body functions, including sleep, hormone release, metabolism and mood.

The disruptions resulting from gaining or losing an hour of sleep disrupt the natural sleep cycle and affect these functions.

Crawford explained that while the time change “doesn’t really make a difference” in the summer, when sunrise is still very early, the same is not true in other seasons.

“In spring and autumn, the sunrise rises a little later, so by getting up an hour earlier we may be getting up in the dark. And that’s really problematic because we need morning sunlight to regulate our body clocks and for optimal sleep,” she said.

Well-timed light exposure keeps the circadian cycle aligned with the 24-hour day, as morning light promotes natural awakening and allows early sleep in the evening, the statement said.

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However, exposure to light at night, which can happen during time shifts, makes it harder to fall asleep and wake up on time.

Multiple scientific studies have also found evidence of increased adverse health effects due to the time shift.

For example, a meta-analysis based on seven studies involving more than 100,000 participants found that there was a significantly higher risk of heart attacks in the weeks following the summer time changes in the spring and fall.

Another study by researchers in Finland found that hospital admissions for stroke increased in the first two days after the time change.

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Research has also linked this to an increase in mental health problems and mood disorders, especially among vulnerable individuals, including a rise in suicides in the weeks following the start of daylight saving time.

Crawford attributed resistance to ending the time changes to a “lack of understanding,” stressing that the benefits of longer evening light would persist in the summer regardless of whether daylight saving time is used.

“Many people think daylight saving time gives them more sunlight or more daylight, but that won’t change. The sun won’t change just because we change our schedules.”

The European position on summer time

In 2018, the European Commission proposed putting an end to the biennial clock shifts in the European Union.

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As part of the proposal, it also launched an online consultation to determine the views of EU residents on this issue.

Support for ending the clock change was significant, with percentages ranging from as high as 95 percent in Poland and Finland to 44 percent in Greece.

The responses showed that an overwhelming majority of respondents were in favor of installing one end of practicewith an average of 84 percent of people across the EU supporting the change.

However, although the European Parliament voted in favor of adopting the change, the European Council did not agree to it and the daylight saving time transitions continued.

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