Petition to move Daylight Savings Time online

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Petition to move daylight saving time online
Proponents say it would give people another day to adjust to change
Originally published February 27, 2013

By Kelsi Loos
News-Post Staff

For his job maintaining fire sprinkler systems, Frankie Monico commutes from Waynesboro, Pa., to Frederick. He wakes up at 5:30 a.m., he said, so when daylight saving time comes, it feels like he's getting up at 4:30 a.m

Moving the time change from Sunday morning to Saturday, an idea proposed by New York-based public relations account coordinator--Lauren Silverman, sounds good, Monico said.

"At least it would give you another day to adjust," he said.

Silverman--partnered with Sleepy's, the bed retailer, to launch a petition to move the start of daylight saving time to 2 a.m. Saturday.

The petition will be submitted to the Department of Transportation, the authority that oversees time zones and daylight saving time.

It comes in response to a survey released by Sleepy's last week that showed nearly 70 percent of respondents favored the shift, which the company said was a 16 percent increase over a similar 2011 study.

Nearly 30 percent of adult Americans reported not getting enough sleep, according to a National Health Interview Survey conducted between 2005 and 2007.

That can lead to serious health consequences. Getting less than six hours of sleep per night over several nights can affect hundreds of genes, the Guardian reported Monday.

Daylight saving time can exacerbate sleep problems in some people, according to Dr. Konrad Bakker, a neurologist board-certified in sleep medicine who practices in Frederick.

Some people might barely notice missing an hour of sleep when the clock springs forward, but it might make others more irritable, he said.

"They feel tired and have difficulty focusing."

Nancy Rothstein, a healthy-sleep advocate who consults for Sleepy's, said that even if the petition is unsuccessful, it is a good opportunity for people to have their voices heard.

Daylight saving time was originally devised to conserve energy, but it never accounted for sleep schedules, she said.

"When all of this was done, I don't think that anybody ever mentioned the word sleep," Rothstein said.

While some people in Frederick were interested in the idea of moving the day, others were not concerned.

"I never really thought about it. It doesn't really matter to me," Frederick barber Jay Wastler said.--

Retiree Marilynn Borkowski, of Frederick, said that she wished the clock would stayed consistent all year, with no daylight saving time.

Dr. Katherine Buki, who specializes in sleep medicine in Frederick, said the daylight saving time shift has a bigger impact on those with phase delay sleep syndrome -- people who fall asleep at least three hours later than their peers.

"You're setting the clock ahead so you've lost an hour, and that's not nice. And if you happen to be a little phase delayed ... this is going to aggravate it by a small amount," she said.

Shifting the start of daylight saving time could potentially help people who work Mondays to maintain a healthy sleep schedule, Buki said, but she is more concerned about high schools' early starting times.

"How we help teenagers deal with the schedules that we impose on them that lead to chronic sleep restriction is a public health issue that is probably orders of magnitude more important than if we start daylight saving time on a Sunday or Saturday," she said.

Bakker offered some tips for people who have difficulty sleeping around daylight saving time. People should avoid caffeine 12 hours before sleeping and avoid alcohol. Taking melatonin two or three hours before sleeping can also help promote a good night's sleep, he said.