DETROIT – People will be turning their clocks back an hour Sunday morning, and that one-hour change could have a big impact.
The end of Daylight Saving Time Sunday is both good and bad. People will push the clock back an hour and get an extra hour of sleep. However, it’ll feel like its starting to get dark around lunch time.
Daylight Saving Time plan was first adopted in the United States in March 1918 -- a year after the country entered World War I. The purpose was to use more natural light to save on fuel.
The plan was abandoned after the war. However, the policy went back into effect during World War II for the same reason -- to save energy. After that war, the plan was scrapped a second time.
In 1966, the federal government established the Uniform Time Act.
Moving the clock back an hour doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but that time change can actually have a dramatic effect on our health.
Nationally, hospitals treat 25% more heart attacks and strokes on the day after the time change. Additionally, the number of serious car crashes increase.
Daylight Saving Time is also a good time to check the batteries on your smoke detectors.