Impact of daylight saving time on circadian timing system : an expert statement

Abstract

Abstract: Even though that in the very beginning of Daylight Saving Time (DST) policy, standards were decided individually by each country, and were not regulated, most European member States have progressively been adopting the so called “summer time” since 1970s or 1980s which had been gradually harmonized under EU law [1]. Public discomfort have been argued for years and claims from several social groups regarding the need for a public inquiry were attended. However, after European Union decided to properly ask citizens about their feelings regarding Daylight Saving Time, a small fraction of European citizens (68% from Germany) had told that they don't want to change the time twice a year. Despite the very statistically biased result, there are still misgivings about the biomedical and clinical meanings of this position. Therefore a significant amount of uncertainty related to the actual impact of DST on health persists both in general public and in the clinical and scientific community. Actually, at the same time discussion seemed ready to be closed in EU, some countries persist with this trend and some others try to implement variants.