This weekend marks the return of standard time, so before going to bed Saturday night, set your clocks back one hour, as standard time returns at 2 a.m. Sunday.
The House earlier this year passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. Professor Vadim Zippunnikov, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the move would be bad for our health, especially in the winter when sunrises would be after 8 a.m.
“The sunrise would be around 7:20 a.m., and we would definitely pay some price, and the price would be darker evenings, but that’s more in line with our biology and what is important,” Zipunnikov said.
| LISTEN: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Professor Vadim Zipunnikov speaks with WBAL’s Robert Lang
Zipunnikov added that it is easier to adjust to earlier sunrises than later sunsets during the winter.
“Our bodies are under a lot of stress, right, it’s cold outside, we get much less daylight,” Zipunnikov said.
As of Sunday, sunsets will be at around 5 p.m.
Even an hour’s change on the clock can throw off sleep schedules because even though the clocks change, work and school start times stay the same.
Right after the spring change, darker mornings and lighter evenings make it harder to fall asleep on time. Those first few days have been linked to increases in car crashes and even an uptick in heart attacks.
During the fall and winter, some people with seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression usually linked to the shorter days and less sunlight, often struggle.
Many people easily adjust to the clock switch, like how they recover from jet lag after traveling. But a time change can add pressure on shift workers whose schedules already are out of sync with the sun, or those regularly sleep-deprived for other reasons.
About 1 in 3 U.S. adults sleep less than the recommended seven-plus hours nightly, and more than half of U.S. teens don’t get the recommended eight-plus hours on weeknights.
Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity and numerous other problems.
In both fall and spring, changing bedtimes by as little as 15 minutes a night in the days before the change can help ease into it.
But sunshine in the morning is critical to helping reset your circadian rhythm for healthful sleep. If you can’t get outdoors, sit by windows.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
