Are Minnesotans On the “Unhealthy” Side of Our Time Zone?

Location, location, location...it's not just for real estate anymore. Now it applies to whether or not we live in the wrong part of our time zone.

Huh?

Since the Pirates were eliminated from the playoffs months ago, the University of Pittsburg has had more time to study things. They took a look at how living on the west side (represent!) of a time zone affects your health compared to living on the east side (represent!).

West-siders are apparently in the wrong place.

When you live on the western-most part of a time zone, you'll get an hour or more of sunlight, and about 19 minutes less sleep per night compared to those scumbags on the east side. That adds up to about 115 hours of lost sleep every year, which - as a chronic napper - makes me cry.

Lost sleep is bad. How bad? Less sleep equals more health problems. Westerners of the Time Zones are more likely to endure diabetes and cancer.

Oof.

So how do Minnesotans rate?

Well, like most things Minnesota...we're average. We're right in the middle of the Central Time Zone, so we don't see the health benefits of easterners, but at least we also don't see the health issues of the westerners. Typical Minnesota.

The loss of sleep also leads to less money: westerners make about 3% less than easterners. The researchers attribute this to westerners being too sleepy to be as productive as their gooder-rested counterparts.

I don't know about you, but I need a nap.

H/T: Pocket