CHILDREN'S health would benefit from switching to continental time by moving the clocks forward an hour, say researchers.
Lighter evenings would increase the amount of time children engage in physical activity by an average of two minutes a day, a study shows.
The difference this makes to children's overall activity levels is "not trivial."
Researchers compared 23,000 children aged five to 16 in nine countries.
Lead researcher Dr Anna Goodman, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "This study provides the strongest evidence to date that, in Europe and Australia, evening daylight plays a role in increasing physical activity in the late afternoon and early evening - the 'critical hours' for children's outdoor play."
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