“Sleep is the chain that ties health and our bodies together.”
-Griff Niblack
When are Daylight savings dates for 2017?
DST start: (Clock forward 1 hr): Sunday, March 12, 2:00 am
DST end: (Clock back 1 hr): Sunday, November 5, 2:00 am
The Effect of Daylight Saving Time:
It’s that time of year again, when we celebrate the imminent spring by becoming a little more blurry eyed than we normally are. As we turn our clocks ahead this weekend, let’s look at the effects that a lost hour has, and what we can do about them.
Your schedule may seem chaotic to you but your body thrives on a tightly controlled biological rhythm. Biologically, we’re suckers for routine and even an hour disturbance has a lot of effects:
- Your risk of heart attack increases by about 10% in the first 3 days after switching to DST (the risk decreases after switching back in Fall).
- Studies have found that traffic accidents increase about 20% on the Monday, accompanied by a 17% increase in driver fatalities
- “Cyberloafing” spikes 20% in offices (i.e. people watching cat videos)
- A study of the mining industry found a 6% rise in injuries on the Monday. It doesn’t sound like much, but injuries in the trades can be dangerous.
- A recent study found an 8% increase in stroke in the days following the shift to DST
Young children, whose bodies are particularly reliant on circadian rhythms, get particularly cranky. The hour change can result in days of irritability as they slowly adapt to the change.
What We Can Do:
So that’s the bad news, but there’s good news, too. There are a lot of easy steps we can take to make the switch a little easier:
- Set your alarm a little earlier on the Friday and Saturday before.
- Start the day with a healthy breakfast. Food cues the body to stop producing melatonin (the sleep hormone), and get ready for the day
- Try to get your little one to bed a little earlier the week before the time change
- Dim the lights for an hour before bed and replace late night TV with a book. Lights prevent our body from releasing melatonin.
On the Sunday morning, try to get outside for an early walk, even if it’s just around the yard. Natural light is the best way to snap us out of a sleepy haze.
For the kids, establish a bedtime routine (bath, snack, storytime, etc) and be consistent with it. This will help you get them to bed earlier in the days leading up to the change, and that will reduce overall crankiness after.
Lastly, and most importantly, take care of yourself. Do you really need to watch that late night movie, or can you try to catch up on your sleep instead? We’re all tired, but if you make an effort before DST to give yourself the sleep your body is asking for, you may find that you’re enjoying the extra hour of sunlight with a clear head and a smile.
A (very) Short History of DST:
Contrary to popular myth, DST wasn’t started by American farmers who wanted to have more daylight hours in the fields. The agricultural community was opposed to the change because, as anyone in Saskatchewan will remind us, cows tell time by the sun, not the clock.
Although a few cities dabbled in it before WWI, DST was adopted wholesale in April, 1916, when Germany switched its national clocks forward to reduce artificial lighting (and conserve fuel) during wartime. The UK and France quickly followed suit.
DST was abandoned after WWI, only to come back into fashion during WWII. After 1945, urban retailers and recreational businesses (both of whom benefit from an extra hour of daylight), pushed hard for it to stay.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/22/world/daylight-saving-time-fast-facts/
https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/daylight-saving-health.html
https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/daylight-saving-time-facts/64663
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/health/daylight-saving-time-health-effects/
http://www.parents.com/kids/sleep/tips/daylight-saving-time/
https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html
http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-daylight-saving-time