The Sleep Research Society's new statement supports eliminating daylight saving time

The Sleep Research Society's new statement supports eliminating daylight saving time

With the annual change from daylight saving time to winter time approaching on Sunday, November 6th, a new statement from the Sleep Research Society advocates for the abolition of daylight saving time and the adoption of permanent winter time. The statement was published online on September 26 as an advance article in Sleep magazine.

Research shows that daylight saving time causes acute sleep loss and chronic circadian misalignment because the timing of natural light is desynchronized from normal physiological processes, leading to dysregulation of melatonin and cortisol. Disruption of these hormones contributes to stress, altered metabolism and inflammation. This circadian misalignment would occur year-round if daylight saving time became permanent.

From a health perspective, the bulk of the evidence supports abolishing our current daylight saving time change in the spring and adopting permanent standard time. Daylight saving time is associated with an increased risk of sleep loss, circadian misalignment, and adverse health outcomes.”

Dr. Beth Malow,Position statement authorProfessor of Neurology and Pediatrics and Director of the Sleep Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee

Daylight saving time shifts daylight into the early evening. In turn, it extends the darkness later in the morning, especially in the winter months, in northern regions and on the western edges of time zones.

By increasing exposure to light in the evening, daylight saving time can delay the body's production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, leading to a later bedtime and shorter sleep duration. Chronic lack of sleep is associated with an increased risk of several health problems, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and depression. Because puberty causes the brain to release melatonin later at night, teens are particularly vulnerable to the effects of daylight saving time, especially when school schedules require teens to wake up early in the morning.

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“The Sleep Research Society strongly supports the adoption of permanent standard time,” said SRS President Namni Goel, who has a doctorate in biological psychology and is professor and director of adult chronobiology research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and director of adult chronobiology and sleep medicine at Rush University Medical Center Biological Rhythms Research Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois. “SRS will continue to educate lawmakers and the public about the sleep and circadian science that supports standard time, and we will advocate for Congress to pass legislation to restore permanent standard time nationwide.”

In March 2022, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act (S. 623), which would establish permanent daylight saving time in the United States in November 2023. However, a similar law enacted during the 1973–1974 energy crisis was so unpopular that Congress repealed it less than a year later. Public opposition to daylight saving time arose in the winter, when it remained dark later in the morning. Parents were particularly concerned about the safety of children going to school in the dark.

Source:

American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Reference:

Malow, BA, (2022) It's time to abolish time changes and adopt permanent standard time in the United States: a statement from the Sleep Research Society. Sleep. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac236.

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