The fact itself sounds like a myth from the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, it is true.
There is an opinion that hyperactivity attacks children during the full moon. They play pranks, frolic, no calming down on them, it is impossible to put them to sleep, but they sleep – they spin like that all the time. The idea that the moon influences human behavior has been stirring human minds since ancient times. And finally, scientists decided to check whether this is really so, and seriously asked the question of whether there is a connection between the phases of the moon and the degree of childish “shyloopost”.
Specialists from the Children’s Hospital of the Ottawa Research Institute got down to business. Canadian scientists did not rely on the opinion of parents, which, of course, is subjective. They hung with special sensors almost 6 thousand children aged 9 to 12 years. The guys wore accelerometers, which measured their level of physical activity and monitored sleep for a week.
And here are the results. It turns out that the degree of activity of children was practically the same, regardless of how far from the Earth the Moon was and in what phase it was. So the hyperactivity myth is just a myth. Better analyze how much sugar your child eats when the restlessness of the level “incredible fidget” gives you.
But a dream … Here a myth is not quite a myth. Children do sleep less on full moons. But not much, just five minutes. Too little for it to seriously affect anything. According to the researchers, this is only 1% of the total sleep time in children. Moreover, it is not a fact that the duration of sleep is influenced by some magical properties of the moon. Perhaps it’s just the too bright light that hits the windows. Although, on the other hand, with the abundance of artificial light in the modern world, it is also a dubious argument.
However, even this result served as the basis for further research. Scientists believe that continued observation is necessary. Experts believe that the moon can affect certain groups of people. In order to find out, the research should last not a week, but at least a month.
Well, for now, only one thing is certain. The full moon is beautiful.