How the switchover to daylight saving time affects our health

Editor's note

Daylight saving time is finally here. That means switching the clocks forward an hour before going to bed tonight. There’s plenty to love about extra daylight in the evenings — more time outdoors and putting an end to winter hibernation. But some people have a tougher time adjusting their body clock, which can impact on physical and mental heath. While researchers don’t have all the answers to explain why, Oliver Rawashdeh outlines what we know so far.

Fron Jackson-Webb

Senior Health + Medicine Editor/Chief of Staff

Changing to daylight saving time can impact our mood, our risk of heart attack and how much exercise we get. Gregory Pappas

How the switchover to daylight saving time affects our health

Oliver Rawashdeh, The University of Queensland

Daylight saving time begins this weekend, which means many of us will get an hour less sleep. But the health effects go beyond sleep – and can last two weeks or more. Here's what the research says.

Waking an hour earlier on Monday won’t make you much more dangerous. Shutterstock

Daylight saving is not something for economists to lose sleep over

Jayanta Sarkar, Queensland University of Technology

Overseas research says putting the clock forward hurts the financial markets. But not in Australia, according to a real-world study along the Queensland-NSW border.

From the archives: daylight saving time

Daylight saving can boost the economy but Australia needs to make it uniform

Andrew C. Worthington, Griffith University

Daylight saving has economic benefits, but this breaks down in the days before and after we change, as well as across borders between states that do and don't have it.

Spring forward, fall back: how daylight saving affects our sleep

Leon Lack, Flinders University

Daylight saving time ends this weekend in most states and territories (barring Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory), meaning we’ll turn our clocks back by one hour on Sunday morning…

Daylight saving: why changing SA’s clocks could make us sleepy and accident-prone

Leon Lack, Flinders University; Gorica Micic, Flinders University; Nicole Lovato, Flinders University

South Australia is considering a permanent change of time zone. Of the several changes proposed, the main contender is to align the state to Eastern time.

Start resetting your kids’ body clocks before daylight saving ends – here’s how

Jon Quach, Murdoch Children's Research Institute

The shift from daylight saving time will leave kids' body clocks an hour "out of sync", in a similar way to jet lag. Here are some evidence-based strategies to deal with this.

Expert answers to serious, weird and wacky questions

The birds and the bees. Shutterstock.

Curious Kids: why do hens still lay eggs when they don’t have a mate?

Emily Burton, Nottingham Trent University

Having looked after chickens for generations, humans are pretty good at getting them to keep on laying eggs.

Birds and mammals use feathers and fur for staying warm and dry – but for other purposes too. from www.shutterstock.com

I’ve Always Wondered: why did mammals go the fur route, rather than developing feathers?

Julie Old, Western Sydney University; Hayley Stannard, University of Sydney

Finding a mate is of course essential to produce the next generation. And feathers and fur play key roles in making sure that happens.

Perth air traffic control tower. As a pilot flies towards the destination, the air traffic control tower sends an interrogation signal. The aircraft automatically responds with a series of short pulses that let air traffic control know the identity of the plane and its altitude. © Copyright Airservices Australia