Sleep researchers in the UK are calling for the abolition of daylight saving time due to its effect on the human body.
The evidence reviewed found that the change in March that caused clocks to jump forward by an hour “could negatively interfere with sleep regulation,” said a statement published in the journal Sleep Research on Wednesday.
Professor Malcolm von Schantz, one of the researchers from the British Sleep Society, said eliminating the time change and keeping the UK in British Standard Time – when clocks move back one hour – would add benefits.
“What’s really important is to avoid switching to daylight saving time (DST) year-round because that can have consequences on physical health, but also on mental health. It could potentially exacerbate winter depression, for example.”
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He added that people will see improvements in sleep and circadian rhythms, which are defined by the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences as the physical, mental and behavioral changes an organism experiences over a 24-hour period.
The push to end daylight saving time and change to permanent year-round time is nothing new.
In fact, this has been seen in several countries, including Canada, where the province of Quebec announced on Tuesday that it will begin consultations on whether or not to end the time change.
Why did daylight saving time start?
Michael Antley, a psychology professor at the University of Calgary, told Global News that the time change was created in part to have more time in the evening.
“The idea was the same, which was to give us more free time in the evenings when we have really long days in the summer,” he said.
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During wartime in the early 1900s, it was also used to provide energy, he said. By changing work schedules, employers will not have to turn on incandescent lights until workers have almost finished their shifts.
This is no longer needed with different energy-efficient bulbs, and with fewer needs to get an extra hour in the evening, Antley said more studies are showing the negative effects.

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“You’ve caused your body clock, your body clock, to be out of sync with your day-night cycle and your work schedule, and you’re forcing people to get up and go to bed, go to work and go to school. An hour earlier than they’re used to.”
Do I stick to daylight saving time or go back to standard?
Some provinces and territories already have the time off, with Saskatchewan keeping its clocks to Central Standard Time year-round, while Yukon changed to its own standard time in 2020.
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Alberta held a referendum in 2021 on whether to make a change, although it was rejected. A Service Alberta spokesperson told Global News it will not revisit the issue at this time but will monitor the impacts while other jurisdictions make their own decisions.
Manitoba said it, too, will monitor developments but will evaluate the “best possible options.”
Others have passed legislation to make a change and make daylight saving time permanent, including British Columbia and Ontario, though they are counting on neighboring jurisdictions including the United States to also make changes before actually moving forward.

How to prepare for daylight saving time
Roger Godbout, a clinical psychologist in the sleep lab at the Riviere-des-Prairies Mental Health Hospital in Montreal, told Global News that people lose nearly an hour of sleep during daylight saving time. He said this is due to exposure to light later in the day, which creates a stimulant effect that can make sleeping more difficult at night.
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He said making the clocks back down permanent, giving us more light in the morning, would be more beneficial for health and sleep.
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“Morning light is most important for our balance mentally and physically,” Godbout said.
Changing the time twice a year can cause health problems
Studies have shown negative effects of annual switching, including cardiovascular problems.
The 2019 report is published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine He analyzed seven studies involving more than 100,000 participants. It found that there was an increased risk of heart attack in the weeks following the daylight saving time transitions in the spring and fall.
2016 national study in Finland – published in the Journal of Sleep Medicine – found that stroke-related hospitalizations increased during the first two days after the switch.
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The statement from British researchers also said that because the majority of the country is in the same time zone, they see the sun rise and set later throughout the year, which also supports keeping time according to British Standard Time, with consultations needed with Ireland to avoid this happening. The time zone borders with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom
Canada may be more difficult due to its multiple time zones.
In the case of Ontario, for example, the province told Global News that making its change without Quebec or New York would be “devastating for trade, stock markets and broadcasting.”
But Rebecca Robillard of the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium says provinces should change to standard time rather than wait for economic or similar reasons.

Can daylight saving time be made permanent?
“It’s really kind of a no-brainer in terms of what we want to put out first,” she said. “There are a few administrative complexities between some of the provinces and inconsistencies across the country versus people who have made the change and voted and listened to what the public’s preferences are and, more importantly, the scientific evidence who have chosen to protect their health.”
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She hopes Quebec’s move will also set a precedent for other provinces to take their own steps instead of waiting.
The time to act is now, said Jason Ellis, a science professor at Northumbria University and a von Schantz colleague.
“We don’t have a huge amount of land in the UK, so we’re really dealing with one change, so in my view, of course, the band-aid has to come off,” he said.
— With files from Global News’ Saba Aziz and Uday Rana
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