This weekend daylight saving time starts and that means we may sleep an hour less. Not healthy at all, say sleep experts at Erasmus MC. They explain daylight saving time is not healthy. Not just this weekend, but throughout the summer.
"Less sleep is not a bad thing in the short term. But in the long term, it can lead to cardiovascular disease and an increased risk of obesity," say senior sleep researcher Dr Heidi Lammers-van der Holst and Professor of Chronobiology & Health Bert van der Horst in newspaper AD.
Making mistakes
daylight saving time ensures that all seventeen million Dutch people get up an hour earlier on Monday compared to their normal light/dark routine. During the first week of daylight saving time, more mistakes are made than usual. Lammers-van der Holst: "The number of accidents increases. Research shows that. More mistakes are made, because people are less alert.”
It is difficult for the biological clock to adjust
"Our biological clock is very rigid. It is not easy to adapt. It takes a while. How long differs from person to person. It soon takes days before our rhythm is adjusted. Some people suffer for weeks. As a tip, the researchers suggest going to bed fifteen minutes earlier, days before daylight saving time starts.
Inconvenience lasts throughout summer
Professor Bert van der Horst explains in Studio Erasmus that we do not get enough sleep during daylight saving time: "We get up an hour earlier, but our biological clock does not quite follow. That means we get up earlier, but we don't go to bed earlier. As a result, we often sleep too little on weekdays." Ultimately, this puts you at a higher risk of all kinds of diseases.
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