Daylight saving time is back in most of Canada, which could spell trouble for sleepers who are slow to adjust to the one-hour time change.
Clocks moved forward by an hour on Sunday. But even before then, sleep-related searches in Canada had hit an all-time high in early 2023
according to data from Google Canada.
A study found that taking a hot bath about 90 minutes before bed could help people fall asleep more quickly.
Canadians have been searching online for ways to fall asleep fast, how much sleep they need, and why they can’t fall asleep, among other things.
According to an October 2020 report by the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults, people aged 18 to 64 need seven to nine hours of good-quality sleep
and those 65 and older need seven to eight hours. One sleep expert, however,
said the average sleep time across North America and the Global South is between six to eight hours.
“It looks like the human sleep average is falling soundly on seven hours,” David Samson, an associate professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Toronto
Mississauga, and the director of the Sleep and Human Evolution Lab, told the Star.
According to Samson’s research, about 80 or 85 per cent of people experiencing sleep problems can make improvements through their own behaviours.
“I recommend behavioral modifications before you ever go into a sleep lab,” he said.
“I recommend behavioral modifications before you ever go into a sleep lab,” he said.
How does daylight saving time affect sleep?