Fall back tonight: most Americans don't like Daylight Saving Time

Yes, you’ll get a shot at an extra hour’s sleep. But even with that, it might be one of the more dreaded weekends on the American calendar: the end of daylight saving time.

Only 12% of U.S. adults favor the current system of daylight saving time, which has people in most states changing the clocks twice a year, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while 47% are opposed and 40% are neutral.

Around the country, the clocks will go back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday to mark the return to standard time and more daylight in the mornings. It has also become a common practice for residents to test, inspect, and replace smoke and carbon monoxide alarms as daylight saving time ends this weekend. 

The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that for many Americans, it’s an unwelcome change — and if forced to choose, most would prefer to keep that extra hour of daylight in the evening.

Standard time will last until March 8 when we will again “spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time.

There’s a lot of grumbling about the twice-a-year time changes. The spring switch tends to be harder, losing that hour of sleep we allegedly recover in the fall. But many people also mourn fall’s end of daylight saving time, when days already are getting shorter and moving the clocks can mean less daylight after school or work for exercise or outdoor fun.

Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have long urged adopting standard time year-round.

New research from Stanford University agrees, finding that switching back-and-forth is the worst option for our health. The study showed sticking with either time option would be a bit healthier, but they found permanent standard time is slightly better — because it aligns more with the sun and human biology, what’s called our circadian rhythm. 

More light in the morning and less at night is key to keeping that rhythm on schedule — all the instruments in sync. The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. When the clock is regularly disrupted by time changes or other reasons, each of the body’s organ systems, such as the immune system or metabolism, works a little less well.

Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. In the U.S., Arizona and Hawaii don’t change and stay on standard time.

In Congress, a bill named the Sunshine Protection Act that proposes making daylight saving time permanent has stalled in recent years.



(AP Photo Charles Krupa)