On Sunday, November 2, at 2:00 a.m., Texans will set their clocks back one hour. The phrase "fall back" makes it easy to remember, but what isn't so easy is the toll this change can take on our health and daily lives.
I'll admit it, I've never been a fan of shorter days. When I leave work at 5 p.m. and it's already dark, it feels like I've lost more than just sunlight. That darkness comes with anxiety, disrupted routines, and a reminder that our bodies are once again adjusting to an unnatural schedule.
The idea of adjusting clocks goes back to Benjamin Franklin in 1784, who suggested that rising earlier would save candle use. Over the decades, leaders from presidents to state representatives have argued the same point, only with electricity instead of candles.
By World War I, the U.S. formally adopted Daylight Saving Time as an energy-saving measure. But in today's world, studies show it doesn't always save energy. In fact, it may encourage more use of air conditioning, heating, and electronics.
Organizations like the American Medical Association, Northwestern Medicine, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have all found that clock changes are linked to serious health issues.
Johns Hopkins professor Adam Spira, PhD, points out that moving the clock forward in spring can trigger:
Even though most people adjust within a week, the ripple effects are real. Adolescents, shift workers, and those living on the western edge of a time zone are often hit hardest, suffering from chronic sleep loss, high blood pressure, and even obesity.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and other medical groups have argued that permanent Standard Time, not Daylight Saving, is the healthier choice. While Congress has floated the Sunshine Protection Act to make DST permanent, scientists warn that constant misalignment between our social clocks and our body clocks would harm public health.
I'll be honest: I love the long evenings of summer when daylight stretches past 9 p.m. But as we prepare to "fall back," it's worth remembering that what feels like a small one-hour shift carries big consequences. Again, for the record I dislike darkness at 5:00 PM who in the White House can I tell that we need to change the way we do things this is not 1784, and I don't believe we have a candle in our house.
If you struggle with the transition, medical experts suggest:
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The debate over whether to keep Daylight Saving Time or scrap it altogether isn't going away anytime soon. For now, though, we'll keep turning those clocks, and trying to keep our health in balance.