‘PEOPLE MOST INTERESTED IN SEX AT CHRISTMAS, EID’
Major religious holidays seem to spark a wave of sexual desire around the world, with a boom in online interest in sex and a spike in babies born nine months later.
Research published in the journal Scientific Reports has for the first time taken a “planetarylevel” look at the phenomenon in Christian countries, which leads to a spike in births in September nine months after Christmas. The study found the same pattern following the Muslim festival of Eid-Al-Fitr.
Scientists have previously hypothesised this increase could have an evolutionary root, timing reproduction to the changing of the seasons.
However, the study found the phenomenon seems to be culturally driven and occurs around the world.
It found the September birth spike is still apparent in Southern Hemisphere Christian countries, even though Christmas falls in their summer.
“We didn’t see a reversal in birth rate or online interest in sex trends between the Northern and Southern hemispheres,” said Luis Rocha, a professor in the Indiana University School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, who co-led the study.
“It didn’t seem to matter how far people lived from the equator.
“Rather, the study found culture - measured through online mood - to be the primary driver behind cyclic sexual and reproductive behaviour in human populations.”