Surprising time of year when people snack more and workout less — and it’s not the holidays

Springing forward might set back your health.

Daylight saving time might be bad news for your healthy habits, according to new research.

The time of the year when we “spring forward” — setting our clocks ahead by one hour — also marks the time of year when people start consuming more processed foods and stop going to the gym as frequently.

Researchers found that people ate more processed foods after daylight saving began — particularly later in the day, and especially on days when the weather was overcast.

People also went to the gym less.

“This effect was stronger in people who are irregular gym users,” Dr. Rishika Rishika, the paper co-author and an associate professor of marketing at North Carolina State University, said in a release. “People who have a regular gym schedule were less affected by the time change. This negative effect of daylight saving time was also more pronounced the further people live from the gym.”

The two studies were published in the Journal of Marketing this month, with one examining snack habits and the other looking at gym habits.

In the first study, researchers worked with a packaged food company based in the US to collect consumer data between 2004 and 2010. All of the study participants used a mobile device to record the snacks they ate over a period of two weeks leading up to and after daylight saving time. Participants tracked how much they ate and when they ate.

In the second study, researchers partnered with a national gym chain that provided data on how many people visited the gym in the time leading up to daylight saving, and the weeks that followed.

What they found has reinforced oft-repeated anecdotes that daylight saving messes with schedules.

“Anecdotally, we often hear stories from friends and acquaintances about how daylight saving time affects them,” Rishika said.“We wanted to see if there was data supporting the idea that moving the clock ahead one hour actually affects our behaviors.”

This is hardly the first study to show the negative effects of daylight saving time. Previous research has also demonstrated that setting our clocks ahead may exacerbate existing health issues like depression, anxiety and seasonal affective disorder, reports Harvard Health Publishing.

And although you may love having all that daylight well into the evening during the summertime, delaying the dark can also mess with your melatonin production, making it more difficult for your body to wind down and fall asleep.

A 2020 study also found a 6% rise in car accidents following the spring time-change — something that experts attribute to people feeling extra groggy or sleepy.

Although daylight saving has been around in its current form since 1966, it’s not universally loved. A 2022 poll, for example, showed that 66% of Americans would favor getting rid of it altogether.

As for the latest study, researchers said it might help people be more aware of the decisions they’re making.

“One big take-away for consumers is that we need to be mindful about trying to maintain healthy habits after daylight saving time,” Rishika said.