Editor,
Susannah Dillion’s letter to the editor, “Central Time Resolutions,” in the March 13 edition of Current in Noblesville is unfortunately filled with misleading assertions. Ms. Dillion, as president of the Central Time Coalition, suggests that many mental and physical health issues plaguing Hoosiers are directly related to Indiana being in the Eastern Time Zone. Ms. Dillion would like readers to believe that the manner in which we interpret time of day is responsible for Indiana’s obesity rate, teen suicide attempts, fatigue, poor physical fitness and poor high school graduation rates.
Indiana is itself a laboratory to study such claims. Six counties in the northwest corner of the state and six counties in the southwest corner follow Central Time, whereas the remainder of the state follows Eastern Time. If Ms. Dillion’s claims were correct, the physical and mental health of the populations of those in Central Time would reasonably be better than those of us in the rest of the state on Eastern Time.
Using information recently released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on county health rankings, I pulled data from the 12 counties in Indiana that follow Central Time. I examined reported prevalence of factors such as low birth weight, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, obesity, insufficient sleep and high school graduation rates. Values from the 12 counties on Central Time as a group varied merely within 2 percent compared to the state as a whole. In other words, the health factors and graduation rates for those in Indiana on Central Time did not vary consistently compared to the entire state. The average health ranking for the 12 counties was near the middle of the state as well. From this information, there does not appear to be compelling evidence that moving to Central Time would make Indiana healthier, nor would it improve graduations rates.
Therefore, while there may be reasons to consider Central Time, the arguments voiced by Ms. Dillion appear unfounded by actual review of data. Her claim that “statistics” prove her assertions is misguided. Implying that a simple move of the clock to Central Time would remedy these complex issues in Indiana is a miraculous leap of faith.
Within our state, there does not appear to be an association between these outcomes and the manner in which we tell time. The time zone debate is likely one based purely on personal preference for more light in the morning versus more light in the evening. I, for one, would dread dusk at 4 p.m. in the winter if the state moved to Central Time. That in of itself could conceivably lead to more depression.
Clark Perry, Noblesville
