By Sarah Bonato, Reference/Research Librarian, CAMH Library
Time to celebrate the end of a week with an hour less of sleep for many of us. Daylight Savings Time has been introduced in more than 70 countries worldwide and affects more than 1.6 billion people, so you are not alone feeling a little drowsy this week. Read below for research on the health effects—good and bad—of Daylight Savings Time.
Daylight Savings Time as a Potential Public Health Intervention: An observational study of evening daylight and objectively-measured physical activity among 23,000 children from 9 countries, by Anna Goodman, Angie S. Page, and Ashley R. Cooper
From the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 11, no. 1 (2014): 84
- Those longer evening daylight hours may be independently associated with a small increase in kids’ daily physical activity.
Access at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4364628/
Does Daylight Saving Time Really Make Us Sick?, by Lawrence Jin, and Nicolas R. Ziebarth. (2015)
From the Institute for the Study of Labor/ Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit
- Using data from both the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and the German Hospital Census, this paper analyzes the health effects of both “spring forward” Daylight Savings Time and the “fall back” time adjustment in the autumn.
Access at https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/9088
Daylight Savings Time Transitions and the Incidence Rate of Unipolar Depressive Episodes, by Bertel T. Hansen, Kim M. Sønderskov, Ida Hageman, Peter T. Dinesen, and Søren D. Østergaard.
From Epidemiology 28, no. 3 (2017): 346-353
- Discusses how Daylight Savings Time transitions may also increase the incidence of mood disorder episodes because of the disruption of circadian rhythms.
Access at https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Citation/2017/05000/Daylight_Savings_Time_Transitions_and_the.7.aspx
Impact of Daylight Savings Time on Road Traffic Collision Risk: A systematic review, by Rachel N. Carey, and Kiran M. Sarma
From BMJ Open 7, no. 6 (2017): e014319.
- This systematic review analyzes the impact of shifting time zones on road traffic collision risk.
Access at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5734262/
Putting the Clocks Forward By One Hour, the Year Round, in the UK – Review of the Scope, Quality and Robustness of Available Evidence (2012), by David Simmonds Consultancy
From the UK Department for Business Innovation & Skills
- An overview of the research on the different impacts of Daylight Savings Time, including wellbeing, mental health and crime.
Access at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/putting-the-clocks-forward-by-one-hour-the-year-round-in-the-uk-review-of-the-scope-quality-and-robustness-of-available-evidence
Sleep and Human Capital: Evidence from Daylight Savings Time (2015), by Lawrence Jin, and Nicolas R. Ziebarth
From the Health, Econometrics and Data Group Department of Economics, University of York
- This paper examines the role of sleep in human capital in the context of daylight saving time.
Access at https://www.york.ac.uk/media/economics/documents/hedg/workingpapers/1527.pdf
Want more education info, innovation and stories? Follow CAMH Education on Twitter: @camhEdu