Changing the clock with one hour in order to make better use of natural daylight in the evening is not helpful for sleep and health.
Photo by © Myrthe Effing for the newspaper AD
For 1,6 billion people in more than 70 countries the time will shift this weekend (or very soon) to daylight saving time (DST), or like most of us call it, to “Summertime”. This means that sunrise and sunset are one hour later. We finally can enjoy the extra hour of daylight in the evening but unfortunately it is not healthy. Most people have an indoor job and are deprived from natural daylight during the day. The first daylight many people will get is in the evening, relatively short before bedtime. The circadian rhythm is confused and our body is not ready for the night. This negatively impacts our bodies, minds, sleep, mood, performance and hurts our health. These days newspapers report a lot about the effects of daylight saving time. Like this interview in the AD.
The Good Light Group is in favour of sticking to the standard time and is part of the International Alliance for Natural Time. Good Light means intense light during the day and dimmed in the evening and night. Sticking the whole year with the standard time is the best.