The change from summer to winter time and vice versa has long been the subject of debate. Now leading British sleep researchers are calling for the time change to be abolished – with good reasons.
At the end of March the clock goes forward one hour and at the end of October it goes back again. Summer time occurs between the end of March and the end of October, but it does not actually follow the natural rhythm.
British researchers from the “British Sleep Society” are now urgently appealing for this artificially created measure to be abolished. They came to the conclusion that switching to daylight saving time in the spring is harmful. Among other things, because many people are forced to wake up in the dark. However, people are used to a largely practiced day-night rhythm. The sunrise is therefore also important for sleep behavior.
As Eva Winnebeck, an author of the study, writes: “What we often don’t realize is that daylight saving time changes our schedule and advances it by an hour, while the length of daylight remains the same.”
Daylight saving time forces us all to get up an hour earlier and go to work or school. In seasons with fewer daylight hours, such as now in autumn, this means that most of us have to get up and commute in the dark.
However, natural daylight is crucial for the optimal coordination of our internal clock. “The morning is the time when our internal clock needs the most light to stay in sync. In our latitudes, there is simply no spare daylight to save in the winter months. If you have the choice between natural light in the morning and natural light in the afternoon, scientific evidence speaks in favor of light in the morning,” explains Malcolm von Schantz, a co-author of the study. In fact, a basic adjustment to the sunrise when waking up would be important for good sleeping habits.
The researchers explain what can happen if there is a permanent lack of morning light. The lack of morning light could lead to significant disruptions in sleep patterns and circadian rhythms, which could potentially have long-term health consequences.
The scientists therefore make a “strong recommendation” for a year-round introduction of the so-called mean Greenwich time (GMT, also known as standard time), which would correspond to winter time in this country, i.e. standard time.