Always surrounded by an aura of mystery, the moon and its possible influence on human behavior has been the object of ancestral fascination and mythical speculation for centuries. It was often thought that the Moon was in some way responsible for our actions, but is there any science behind these myths? Is it really possible that the Moon can affect our mood or behavior? Can the Moon be blamed for a bad night’s sleep or create physical and mental alterations?

In order to find out if lunar phases somehow do affect humans, a group of scientists from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute studied 5812 children from five continents to see if their sleeping patterns changed or if there were any differences in their daily activities.

“We considered that performing this research on children would be particularly more relevant because they are more amenable to behavior changes than adults and their sleep needs are greater than adults,” said Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput.

The study was conducted on selected children (boys and girls) who came from a wide range of economic and sociocultural levels, and variables such as age, sex, highest parental education, the day of measurement, body mass index score, nocturnal sleep duration, level of physical activity and total sedentary time were considered.

The findings obtained in the study revealed that in general, nocturnal sleep duration around full moon compared to new moon reported an average decrease of five minutes (or roughly one percent less than the typical number of hours they get in ordinary nights). No other activity behaviours were substantially modified.

“Our study provides compelling evidence that the moon does not seem to influence people’s behaviour. The only significant finding was the one per cent sleep alteration in a full moon, and this is largely explained by our large sample size that maximises statistical power,” explained Chaput.

The clinical implication of sleeping 5 minutes less during a full moon does not represent a considerable threat to health. “Overall, I think we should not be worried about the full moon. Our behaviors are largely influenced by many other factors like genes, education, income and psychosocial aspects rather than by gravitational forces,” he added.

It should be noted that this study contradicts a previous study conducted some years ago according to which scientists said they can offer evidence the lunar cycle does affect human sleep.

The results of the new study were published in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics.