CNN on Friday connected Daylight Savings Time to sleep problems among communities of color.
The outlet claimed problems with lack of sleep and sleep disorders are more prevalent in black, Asian, Hispanic, or Latino communities, adding the “inequities” can be detrimental to a person’s health.
When a person’s sleep patterns are poor, it can result in obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain forms of cancer, Chandra Jackson, a researcher and epidemiologist with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences told the outlet.
“Many of these health outcomes are more prevalent in the Black population,” she added.
The outlet acknowledged white adults do suffer from loss of sleep and the health problems associated with it but also claimed, “people of color appear to disproportionately experience them more, and that’s believed to be largely due to social systems in the United States.”
In March, the Senate passed a bill by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) that would make Daylight Savings Time permanent, Breitbart News reported at the time.
File/This photo shows a clock in the background of a smartphone showing the time after daylight saving time was implemented in Los Angeles, California, on March 15, 2022. The US Senate advanced a bill on March 15 that would bring an end to the twice-yearly changing of clocks, in favor of a “new, permanent standard time” that would mean brighter winter evenings. (CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty)
In their op-ed regarding the issue, Rubio and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote, “The effects of darker afternoons on our mental and physical health can be serious. The biannual transition of ‘spring forward’ and ‘fall back’ disrupts circadian sleeping patterns, causing confusion, sleep disturbances and even an elevated risk to heart health.”
Daylight Saving Time is observed in 48 states except for Hawaii and Arizona, Fox Weather reported November 4.
Meanwhile, the CNN article claimed getting quality sleep was a racial issue, stating that “Many social and environmental determinants of health – including living conditions or work schedules that don’t support sleep – may emerge, at least in part, from historical and persistent forms of structural racism.”
In August, New York City Department health officials reportedly issued a warning to colleagues prior to a heat wave that “structural racism” and its implications made the risk of heat stress worse for black community members, according to Breitbart News.
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