Clockwatching
BMJ 2006; 332 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0604144 (Published 01 April 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;332:0604144
- Thomas Mac Mahon, intercalating medical student1
- 1University College Dublin, Ireland
pub medic: Impress your mates at the pub with your startling repertoire of esoteric medical knowledge
Impress your mates at the pub with your startling repertoire of esoteric medical knowledge
What happens this year on 26 March in Europe, is delayed until 2 April in America, but doesn't occur in Japan at all? Well, in those countries taking part, it's time to turn the clocks forward one hour, marking the start of daylight saving time (DST), or summer time as it's also known. Now you might groan about losing valuable minutes for partying, studying, or sleeping (your priorities changing as you progress through the course), but are there any tangible benefits to this annual ritual? And what about the health implications of daylight saving that don't often get a mention?
Origins
Benjamin Franklin came up with the bright idea in 1784, to make better use of daylight and so reduce the amount of money wasted on candles in 18th century Paris.1 By having the population rise at dawn and go to bed at sunset, as well as rationing candle sales and putting a tax on houses with shutters, he estimated (not entirely seriously) that anywhere between a150m and a400m in today's money could be saved.
The idea didn't resurface until 1907 when a London builder, William Willett, advocated advancing the clocks by 20 minutes on each Sunday in April and reversing the process in September.2 It found limited support until the first world war, when Britain, Germany, and other countries adopted daylight saving in 1916 to boost wartime production and save coal. The US followed suit for seven months in 1918, but public opposition led to Congress overriding the measure against the wishes of President Woodrow Wilson—it wasn't until the second world war that Franklin Roosevelt introduced it again across America. At the same time in the UK, political enthusiasm for the energy savings associated …
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