During the night from Saturday to Sunday, the French and Europeans change the time. 2021 was supposed to mark the end of this time change but the Covid-19 has shaken the schedule.
On Saturday March 28 at 2 a.m., you will have to add an hour to your alarm clock and it will then be 3 a.m. As a result, we sleep an hour less… However, when we switch to summer time, the sun rises later and we gain an hour of natural light at the end of the day. The days will therefore be longer. But is the change of time without consequences on health?
The biological clock is upset
The “biological clock” corresponds to the internal mechanism of each person, it allows to have a temporal orientation. When the changeover to summer or winter time occurs, in the vast majority of people, the biological clock is out of order. The latter is closely linked to a hormone called melatonin. Depending on the amount of light, the body will produce more or less hormones which will “parameterize” all the biological functions. In this case, for the change to summer time, we will have trouble falling asleep an hour earlier but our biological clock will wake us up at the same time as in winter time. For the elderly, a sudden change in schedule can have the effect of disrupting the function of sleep or wakefulness. They can thus be confronted with phases of more severe insomnia or even be subject to mood disorders. “From a sleep point of view, there is no benefit and it is even a nuisance that affects well-being”, explains Roger Godbout, psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Montreal, in an interview with Quebec media LCN. In young children, the switch to winter time greatly upsets the habits of the little ones and can make them lose their appetite. Many doctors and psychologists recommend to anticipate the change of schedule.
When is the end of the time change?
The time change was introduced in Europe in 1988. European countries had therefore taken the initiative to switch to summer time on the last Sunday in March and to winter time on the last Sunday in October. . The goal of this maneuver? Save energy and curb light pollution. But the results turned out to be inconclusive … According to Ademe (Ecological Transition Agency), changing the time only saves 351 gigawatt-hours, which represents 0.07% of energy consumption. total electricity only. A relatively small effect. In March 2019, MEPs voted for the end of the time change across the Union from 2021. A major European-wide popular consultation also took place and 80% of people voted for the end of the Time change. The different countries therefore had to notify the European Commission of the time on which they wished to position themselves (summer or winter) before the 1ster April 2020. However, the coronavirus epidemic has passed this way and the discussions have been postponed to a later and undetermined date.
