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Daylight improves workers' sleep

Workers exposed to sunlight or bright indoor lights during the morning hours sleep better at night and tend to feel less depressed and less stressed than those who do not get much morning light, showed a recent study.

Exposure to more light during the day and less light at night is critical for healthy sleep patterns because it helps to calibrate the body's internal circadian clock, the study team wrote in the journal Sleep Health.

The results suggest that in office environments, being exposed either to daylight or electric lights that are rich in short wave "blue" light may be important for the health of workers, said lead author Mariana Figueiro, programme director at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Many office buildings may actually be moving in the direction of reducing light, added Dr Figueiro.

"Much has been done to reduce light levels to promote energy efficiency, which is important, but we may be going too far in this direction," she said.

"We need to start thinking about how we light our daytime environments."

- REUTERS

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