Are Children Like Werewolves? Full Moon and Its Association with Sleep and Activity Behaviors in an International Sample of Children
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Date
2016
Authors
Chaput, J-P.
Weippert, Madyson
LeBlanc, Allana G.
Hjorth, Mads F.
Michaelsen, Kim F.
Katzmarzyk, Peter T.
Tremblay, Mark S.
Barreira, Tiago V.
Broyles, Stephanie T.
Fogelholm, Mikael
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Abstract
In order to verify if the full moon is associated with sleep and activity behaviors, we
used a 12-country study providing 33,710 24-h accelerometer recordings of sleep and
activity. The present observational, cross-sectional study included 5812 children ages
9–11 years from study sites that represented all inhabited continents and wide ranges of
human development (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, India, Kenya,
Portugal, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States). Three moon phases were
used in this analysis: full moon (±4 days; reference), half moon (±5–9 days), and new
moon (±10–14 days) from nearest full moon. Nocturnal sleep duration, moderate-tovigorous
physical activity (MVPA), light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and total sedentary
time (SED) were monitored over seven consecutive days using a waist-worn
accelerometer worn 24 h a day. Only sleep duration was found to significantly differ
between moon phases (~5 min/night shorter during full moon compared to new moon).
Differences in MVPA, LPA, and SED between moon phases were negligible and non-significant
(<2 min/day difference). There was no difference in the associations between
study sites. In conclusion, sleep duration was 1% shorter at full moon compared to
new moon, while activity behaviors were not significantly associated with the lunar cycle
in this global sample of children. Whether this seemingly minimal difference is clinically
meaningful is questionable
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Moon, Lunar cycle, Sleep, Physical activity, Sedentary behavior, Children
Citation
Chaput J-P, Weippert M, LeBlanc AG, Hjorth MF, Michaelsen KF, Katzmarzyk PT, Tremblay MS, Barreira TV, Broyles ST, Fogelholm M, Hu G, Kuriyan R, Kurpad A, Lambert EV, Maher C, Maia J, Matsudo V, Olds T, Onywera V, Sarmiento OL, Standage M, Tudor-Locke C, Zhao P and Sjödin AM (2016) Are Children Like Werewolves? Full Moon and Its Association with Sleep and Activity Behaviors in an International Sample of Children. Front. Pediatr. 4:24. doi: 10.3389/fped.2016.00024