title: Does Daylight Savings Time encourage physical activity?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Extending Daylight Savings Time (DST) has been identified as a policy intervention that may encourage physical activity. However, there has been little research on the question of if DST encourages adults to be more physically active.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from residents of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah ages 18-64 who participated in the 2003-2009 American Time Use Survey are used to assess whether DST is associated with increased time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The analysis capitalizes on the natural experiment created because Arizona does not observe DST.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that shifting 1 hour of daylight from morning to evening does not impact MVPA of Americans living in the southwest.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While DST may affect the choices people make about the timing and location of their sports/recreational activities, the potential for DST to serve as a broad-based intervention that encourages greater sports/recreation participation is not supported by this analysis. Whether this null effect would persist in other climate situations is an open question.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
authors.forename: Cathleen D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Zick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001130:Arizona; D003120:Colorado; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009516:New Mexico; D011640:Public Policy; D011998:Recreation; D013177:Sports; D013472:Sunlight; D013995:Time; D014505:Urban Population; D014589:Utah; D055815:Young Adult