Marco Alborghetti Daylight saving time is back and like every year the debate is heating up as to who wants to keep it and who would like to abolish the moving of the hands, like Codacons and doctors.
Daylight saving time, the debate for its abolition reignites
Daylight saving time is back, and so is the debate about abolishing the time change: on the night between Saturday 26 October and Sunday 27 October, the clocks will move forward by one hour, giving us an extra hour of sleep, but this doesn't seem to be enough to calm things down.
In terms of energy savings, Terna notes, during the seven months of daylight saving time this year, the Italian electricity system benefited from reduced energy consumption of 340 million kWh, resulting in economic savings of over €75 million and avoiding 160 tons of CO2. Since 2004, savings of €2,2 billion have been achieved.
Parliament and doctors protest: “It’s bad for your health”
In Europe, as in Italy, they want to abolish the clock reset. Over a hundred MEPs have drafted a letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, arguing that the change is harmful to health.
“ Several studies have shown that time changes can negatively impact sleep patterns, increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and lead to a spike in traffic accidents.
Furthermore, the energy-saving benefits that once justified the practice have significantly diminished in modern times, and in fact, the change may even lead to increased energy consumption during the winter months ,” the letter explains.
Not only MEPs, but also doctors are rising up and loudly calling for the abolition of the time change by eliminating the return to summer time. In the FAQs of doctors of Fnomceo, some studies highlight that people sleep significantly more in the short term when they gain an hour after the return to solar time.
Furthermore, hospital admissions appear to decrease dramatically for four days: those related to cardiovascular diseases would decrease by ten units per million inhabitants.
According to the University of Alabama, in the days following the introduction of daylight saving time, the risk of having a heart attack increases by 10% , especially in people who already suffer from heart disease.
This could be due to lack of sleep, the body's circadian clock, and immune responses.
Codacons: “We have wanted its abolition for 20 years”
The position of doctors and MEPs is also shared by Codacons , which doubles down: " For about 20 years, we have been calling for eliminating the switch from summer time to winter time, and according to our surveys, 80% of Italian citizens say they are against changing the clocks twice a year. The costs of switching from summer time to winter time and vice versa significantly outweigh the benefits: the one-hour shift has both mood and physical consequences for approximately 15% of citizens, and causes sleep disturbances in one in two children."