It is almost daylight saving time, also known as summer time. This weekend in most countries in Europe and next weekend in most countries in America, we have to set our clocks ahead one hour. It was introduced in Europe during World War I and adopted again during World War II to extend the amount of daylight in the evening.
But morning light is the most important thing for our health and sleep! Waking up and tuning your biological clock to the time of day is most important. During summer time, we have too little morning light and too much evening light. This disturbs our biological clock and has a negative effect on the quality of our sleep, energy level and alertness during the day and on our mood. It may even lead to health problems.
The shift of the clock with one hour in itself also causes problems.
1. We lose one hour of sleep, which is difficult to adjust to for many people. This can lead to daytime fatigue, moodiness and reduced productivity. Especially for children.
2. A disrupted sleep pattern can also lead to more accidents. Especially in the early days after the shift there is an increased risk of accidents because people are more tired and less able to concentrate, leading to errors in judgement and reduced reaction time.
While Europe continues to debate the benefits of daylight saving time, Mexico has already abolished it. In April 2021, the Mexican government announced that it would no longer observe daylight saving time, based on health concerns and the disruption of sleep patterns. The decision was welcomed by many Mexicans, who had long complained about the confusion and problems caused by the clock changes twice a year.
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