Daylight savings linked to obesity

CHILD obesity could be reduced if the clocks did not go back in the winter, a study has found.

The British study concluded that children are most physically active on longer days.

Scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that children aged 8 to 11 were most active between 5pm and 8pm during lighter evenings.

They measured the body movements of 325 children in Hertfordshire in their daily routine for 817 days over the four seasons and found children were most active on days with 14 or more hours of daylight.

Authors of the study, which is published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, said the trend remained constant — regardless of the weather.

On long days, the children spent 22% of their time taking part in “out-of-home play” in afternoons and early evenings, while the figure decreased to 13% when the day became shorter.

Researcher Dr Anna Goodman said: “The fact that kids spend more time playing outdoors and are more physically active overall on these longer days could be important at a population level for promoting their fitness and in preventing child obesity.

British Summer Time ended on October 30 at 2am, when the clocks went back by one hour.

A bill before the British parliament calls for a review of the potential costs and benefits of a move to Central European Time (CET), but needs further legislation before a trial was launched.

Moving to CET would mean lighter winter evenings, which supporters claim would cut road deaths, boost tourism and reduce energy use.