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President submits proposal to end daylight savings time across Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico — On Tuesday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent a proposal to Congress which, if approved, would see the end of daylight savings time across the country.

López Obrador signed the initiative for the Law of Time Zones in the United Mexican States, which has already been sent to the Congress of the Union. The initiative, if approved, would see the end of daylight savings time in Mexico.

During his Tuesday morning press conference, AMLO discussed the reasons for the change with the help of other federal officials who agree with the proposal.

The Secretary of Energy (Sener), Rocío Nahle García stated that a time change does not contribute to energy saving. Energy saving is very low, less than one percent per year of national consumption.

“In 2021, national consumption and savings due to summer time was only 537 gigawatts per hour, which is equivalent to 0.16 percent of national consumption and economic savings of 1,138 million pesos, which represents only 0.2 percent of the national electricity consumption,” he said.

The Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer Varela says DST is harmful to people’s health.

The Secretary of Health said that the impact on the population can be biological, psycho-emotional and social. Daytime drowsiness, irritability, attention deficits, depression, fatigue and decreased performance at school and work have been observed, which he said, leads to increased use of stimulants.

The federal head of health explained that with the clock modification, adolescents sleep time decreases by an average of 32 minutes per night, primarily in the first two weeks after daylight saving time begins.

Adults need three to seven days to adapt to the time change, while young children require even more time. Some studies, he said, suggest an association between daylight saving time and increased occurrence of heart attacks, especially in the first week of the clock change.

The Secretary of Health indicated that more and more studies show that the differences in time between the social and biological clock challenge health. He cited international sleep societies which advise a regular schedule, including the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, who he says, reports that the benefits of standard time outweigh those of daylight saving time.

“The choice of daylight saving time is political and therefore can be changed. (…) It is advisable to return to standard time, which is when the time of the sundial coincides with the time of the social clock,” he said Tuesday at the National Palace in Mexico City.

The state of Quintana Roo does not observe DST or daylight savings time. Since 2014, the state observes only Eastern Standard Time all year long.