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home / 世界杯决赛2022

daylight time ends sunday. here are some tips to deal with the time change

the clock falls back one hour on sunday, despite a long-standing campaign to end the biannual time reset and stick with daylight time.

by cheryl chan

oct 31 2022
read time 3 minute read
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turn back your clocks by an hour at 2 a.m. on nov. 6, sunday. charles platiau / reuters
b.c. clocks are set to fall back again despite a long-standing plan to scrap the twice-a-year time change and stick with daylight time permanently.
daylight time ends sunday, nov. 6, when people set their clocks back an hour at 2 a.m., gaining an hour of sleep.
the seasonal reset means most british columbians gain more daylight in the morning — reverting to standard time means sunrise will be around 7 a.m. rather than around 8 a.m. currently — but have less light in the evening as sunsets will also occur earlier.
while the spring switch to daylight time is associated with harmful health effects such as increased risk of heart disease, obesity and diabetes due to the hour’s loss of sleep and the cumulative impact of sleep loss, going back to standard time also has drawbacks, said wendy hall, professor emeritus at the ubc school of nursing.
“the return to standard time has been linked to depression because of the shorter exposure to daylight,” said hall, adding the impact is harder on people who are night owls, those who go to bed late and sleep in late as they will tend to miss daylight hours.
a 2017 danish study found an 11 per cent increase in depressive episodes associated with the transition from summer to standard time, which dissipated over 10 weeks.
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the ritual of turning clocks backwards or forwards twice a year has been the subject of debate with many jurisdictions, including b.c., ready to ditch the switch in favour of a permanent time.
in 2019, the b.c. government passed legislation allowing the province to stick with daylight time, but said it’ll only enact it once washington state, oregon and california are on the same page.
the movement was delayed due to covid-19, but with the pandemic threat receding, premier john horgan had said the issue will be addressed in the fall session of the legislature.
the u.s. is also making similar moves toward banishing the time reset. earlier this march, the senate passed the sunshine protection act, which would make daylight time permanent starting nov. 5, 2023. but the bill has stalled in the house of representatives. it also needs to be signed by president biden before it becomes law.
hall is in favour of giving up the seasonal time change, but wants the government to stick with standard time.
the american academy of sleep medicine and the canadian sleep society are also urging governments to stick with standard time, which they say is more aligned with human circadian rhythms.
“not only does (daylight ttime) induce sleep deprivation at its inception in the spring but it enforces later darkness during the summer, favouring delayed bedtime, social jet lag and more sleep loss,” said the canadian sleep society in a position statement issued monday.
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under daylight time, most canadian cities would experience sunrises well after 8 a.m. in the fall and winter months, it said.
“canadian children, students and workers would have to wake up in the dark and get to school/work without proper daylight exposure. this challenges the key role of morning light for circadian alignment and sleep deficits.”
meanwhile, as clocks turn back one hour earlier this weekend, hall offers some tips to help people adjust to the time change:
• parents with small children can help them adjust by shifting bed time, nap time, and meal times about 15 minutes later a few days in advance before the time change, she said.
• eat protein-rich food to help combat the urge to eat carb-heavy comfort foods.
• use light boxes, which emulate sunlight, to help with seasonal affective disorder.
• try to get up earlier in the morning to get as much morning light as possible. “it’s not easy in vancouver, which can be gloomy, but it helps you reset your circadian rhythms,” said hall.
chchan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/cherylchan
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