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Aside from a flickering monitor, there is nothing quite as irksome as a balky mouse. The term “ergonomic” is used freely for mice these days, but decidedly many are not. And those that are truly ergonomic will help protect your hand and wrist from injuries without having to pay an arm and a leg.

I tested three different mice that call themselves “ergonomic”. I also tested two trackball mice that stay stationary on a desk — the cursor is controlled by rotating the trackball with a thumb. I sidelined the trackball mice when I experienced intense shoulder pain after about a week of use. Before you spend upward of $100 ($80 on Amazon) for the Logitech Ergo rollerball, you might want to order one from Amazon that costs about $20 — the Logitech M570, for example. I couldn’t tell the difference between the two; they both caused shoulder pain.

Most mice these days are wireless, although there still is a market for wired mice. Some connect via Bluetooth, while others have a tiny USB Bluetooth device that controls the mouse.

So here goes the tale of three wireless ergonomic mice.

The Logitech MX Master 2S mouse, at $100 ($80 on Amazon), is the priciest of the three. It connects to a PC or Mac via Bluetooth or USB device. Supposedly, it will control three devices and allow you to copy material from one PC to another. I couldn’t make those features work at all. It has buttons all over the place that can be programmed. As mice go, it’s gimmicky overkill. It’s heavy (10 ounces) for a mouse and it has a ridge where the thumb rests. Despite trying every setting that comes with the mouse, the cursor travelled too fast, and I kept opening unwanted pages because the left-click would react to the slightest touch. The battery is rechargeable, making a USB cable necessary. The cable is included. The other mice in this review rely on disposable batteries.

The $40 Logitech M510 ($18 on Amazon) was the best deal. At 4.55 ounces, it’s the lightest of the three and feels like it. It’s also the smallest, which is a negative for people with big hands. I hardly classify it as ergonomic — it’s downright uncomfortable. The mouse has been around for ages, and while it has extra programmable buttons, it’s just too small and light to be of much use to me. Back on the shelf with its trackball step-brothers.

Then there’s my favourite, the $60 Microsoft Ergo Sculpt ($33 on Amazon), which weighs a few hundredths of a kilo more than the Logitech M510, yet feels far more substantial. It runs on two AA batteries, tracks beautifully, has a thumb rest and a Windows key — no fancy-shmancy gimmickry here. When I recently sold my old PC, I threw in the Sculpt I had been using (trouble-free) for more than five years, thinking I’d get something more contemporary. In fact, Microsoft has a new edition of the Sculpt, the Sculpt Comfort, which is smaller than the Ergo Sculpt. After twiddling my thumbs for a month, I ordered the Ergo Sculpt, and it was like reuniting with an old friend. I can use it all day with nary a complaint from my hand, wrist and shoulder. It’s been around for years, and I plan to keep my new one for years, too.

I thought of reviewing the mice blindfolded — sort of a three blind mice exercise — but that wasn’t practical. Instead, I spent several days with each of them, and came through with a winner, a mouse that is truly ergonomic.

Strong sibling ties can help buffer adolescents from the stress of witnessing parents’ battles and unresolved conflicts, a small study suggests. 

Researchers found that feelings of insecurity and other psychological problems stemming from regular exposure to family conflict were common in seventh-graders who had low-quality bonds with their siblings. With close sibling bonds, kids were less likely to experience these effects later in their teenage years. 

“Close and warm sibling relationships can help offset the distress that many kids experience following repeated exposure to interparental conflict,” lead author Patrick T. Davies, a psychology researcher at the University of Rochester in New York, said in a phone interview. 

“Their bond can help offset psychological problems by reducing their stress reaction to the conflict,” he said. 

Davies noted that not all children exposed to high levels of parental conflict develop problems. Most kids develop along “normal trajectories”, he said. 

That is why more research is turning to examining the factors that give some kids the resilience to get through traumatic situations, the study team writes in Child Development. 

Davies’ team collected data between 2007 and 2011 on 236 families of middle-school students in the Northeast and Midwest who had at least one sibling that was not a twin. The families were middle class, three quarters of them identified as white, and most households included both biological parents, with a small percentage including a step-parent or guardian. 

Researchers focused on the seventh-graders’ relationship with the sibling closest to them in age, and on average, these siblings were about three years younger or older. The seventh-graders’ average age at the first assessment was 12.5 years, and they were assessed again at ages 13 and 14 years 

Conflict between parents and the nature of the relationships among siblings were gauged through laboratory visits and interviews with the parents and children. The seventh-graders’ emotional insecurity due to their parent’s volatile relationship was assessed through a specialised questionnaire, and other psychological and behavioural problems were reported by their teachers and mothers. 

The researchers found that adolescents who witnessed conflict between their parents had greater distressed responses to conflicts a year later, and greater distressed responses, in turn, predicted mental health problems in the subsequent year. However, teens who had close sibling bonds did not suffer subsequent mental health problems. 

“The thing about siblings is they both witness the event together and can bond, commiserate and distract each other from the conflict,” said Jonathan Caspi, a family therapist and professor in the department of family science and human development at Montclair State University in New Jersey, who was not involved in the study. 

“Support in the moment can be critical,” Caspi said in a phone interview, adding that the study offers family therapists “a really clear and good direction on how to help children experiencing high conflict homes or parents divorcing. Building sibling relationships can be a better strategy than providing emotional support for siblings going through family crises”. 

“We should be paying more attention to siblings when mom and dad are in conflict,” said Kiaundra Jackson, a licensed family and marriage therapist in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study. “Kids are very intuitive. They understand what’s going on and feel the negative energy when there are arguments.” 

Jackson said in a phone interview that she hopes “the impact of the study will be that we pay more attention to sibling dynamics so no matter what the trauma they experience they will be able to rely on one another if things get difficult”. 

Since the study findings were limited to certain cultural and socioeconomic groups, Davies noted, “We have to exercise caution in extending these findings to other populations and samples. It definitely needs to be replicated and tested for generalisability.” 

He added that he does not think an only child is necessarily more or less at risk of developing emotional problems from a home filled with conflict compared to a similar home with multiple siblings. 

“An only child probably has other sources of resilience and protective factors to offset the lack of a sibling,” he said. 

PARIS — Even if marriage is sometimes more a bed of nails than roses, living into old age with a partner may help ward off heart disease and stroke, researchers said on Tuesday.

A sweeping survey of research conducted over the last two decades covering more than 2 million people aged 42 to 77 found that being hitched significantly reduced the risk of both maladies, they reported in the medical journal Heart.

The study examined ethnically varied populations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia, adding weight to the results.

Compared to people living in spousal union, the divorced, widowed or never married were 42 per cent more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and 16 per cent more likely to have coronary heart disease, the study found.

The risk of dying was likewise elevated for the non-married, by 42 per cent from coronary heart disease and by 55 per cent from stroke.

The results were nearly the same for men and women, except for stroke, to which men were more susceptible. 

“These findings may suggest that marital status should be considered in the risk assessment for cardiovascular disease,” concluded a team led by Chun Wai Wong, a researcher at Royal Stoke Hospital’s department of cardiology, in Stoke-on-Trent in Britain.

Four-fifths of all cardiovascular disease can be attributed to a proven set of “risk factors”: advanced age, being a man, high-blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and diabetes. 

Marriage, in other words, could be an important share of the missing 20 per cent.

More precisely, living together — with or without a wedding band — is probably the operative factor, if indeed conjugal status has any impact at all.

But most of the 34 studies reviewed by Wong and colleagues did not identify couples out of wedlock or same-sex unions, so it was not possible to know whether, statistically, such arrangements were the equivalent of being wed.

Because the study was observational rather than based on a controlled experiment  no clear conclusions could be drawn as to cause-and-effect.

Having someone around to take care of one’s health problems and keep track of one’s meds is probably a plus, as are two incomes or pensions instead of one.

Chances are that you have a network router at home. If you have Internet it almost automatically means that you do have a router. Are you in good control of all its functionalities? Do you know how to programme it, how to set its security parameters, how to allow or to prevent some of the digital devices you have and that are connected to it to perform specific operations?

Life used to be simple. And I do not mean in the 20th century, but a mere 15 to 20 years ago. Back then having Internet at home involved minimal, simple equipment, almost as easy to connect and use as any other household electric appliance. These were the basic modems of yesteryears. They bring you the Internet, nothing more.

Two aspects of the technology have made it necessary to have a network router too. The first is the need to connect wirelessly (i.e. Wifi), not through wires, and the second is the number and more particularly the large variety of devices to connect.

In the early modem-only days one would have one computer, two at most and that would be connected with cables to the modem. These days are gone. Today most if not all connections are done wirelessly and there are at least four types of devices that we commonly connect to the web: computers, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs.

Other smart devices that beg you to connect them to the router and to “have Internet” are invading our homes and their number is increasing by the day. From washing machines to audio systems, microwave ovens, surveillance cameras, and everything in between. This is what pundits have been referring to as the IoT, the Internet of Things. In plain: the future of everything. The term was coined by Kevin Ashton 18 years ago.

At some point in the past, people used to keep their old existing modem and to add a router to it. Technically it is a simple operation. Some still do it this way, though it is becoming more and more difficult to find a simple modem-only to buy.

To cope with the change and the demand, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) for the past few years have been providing and installing routers that have a built-in modem inside, plus all the functionality to better serve, distribute, manage and control the network in the house, which is what a router is for. This is how it is today, one box that houses the combined functions of the two devices: the modem and the router, and it is simply called router.

Life with a router can be trouble-free if it is well set from the beginning by your ISP, if your needs are simple, your digital devices uncomplicated, if no technical problem ever occurs and if you keep the entire network as it is, unchanged for a long time. Which of course is almost never the case.

Except in a dream situation like the above described, you need to access the router and play with its parameters and settings. Unfortunately, this requires technical ability and knowledge that is a notch above say accessing and working on the advanced settings of a high-end smartphone. And yet, it is a useful, not to say important thing to do.

For a router lets you name your local network (i.e. the SSID), forbid this or that device from accessing the Internet, assign special passwords to your guests, letting them this way have wireless Internet without “seeing” your computers and smartphones.

Most routers allow you to connect to them a USB drive and therefore make it a common, shared storage and data backup area for all the family. Or to set up a wireless printer for all to share. Or to change the security password, to set the built-in firewall’s access protection level so that external hackers are kept out. 

Advanced functions let you assign static IP Internet addresses to surveillance cameras, if you have any at home, sow that you can easily access them and monitor your house from anywhere in the world. The list of options and functionalities is long and may vary a little from one manufacturer to another.

The bad news is that unless you have the will, the time and the technical ability to control your router this way, a computer techie or your ISP customer service are the only ways to have the work done properly. And you will need them often.

The good news is that today thanks to remote technical support provided via online services like for example the excellent Teamviewer, technical help can be provided to you remotely, quickly, without any computer “mechanic” coming in person to your house. This assumes that your Internet connection is up and fast, and that you have at least one computer working. This is the minimum requirement to allow the techie to access your router remotely and work on it.

Being exposed to a noisy workplace all day may cause stress that carries over into the evening and reduces sleep quality, suggests a small study from Taiwan. 

Researchers found that when workers had higher occupational noise exposure, they had higher blood pressure and higher levels of the stress-hormone cortisol after work, and got less restful sleep that night, compared to days with lower daytime noise exposure. 

“We take the amount of noise in our environments for granted,” said Dr Seema Sharma of the SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health in Toronto, who wasn’t involved with the study. 

“People don’t go to work expecting to have changes in their physiology,” she told Reuters Health in a phone interview. “We expect rest to take us back to normal functioning, but we typically have to go back to work before then.” 

Researchers led by Cheng-Yu Lin of the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan collected data on 40 workers in hospital cafeterias, both on days when each worker was assigned to an eight-hour shift in a high-noise area and on days when the same individual was working in a quieter area. 

High-noise conditions, including the cooking and food processing areas, had average noise levels ranging from about 72 to 86 decibels (dBa). Quieter areas, like the dining room and administrative office, ranged from about 67 to 72dBa. 

In addition to measuring individuals’ daily noise exposures, the researchers tested their nervous system responses and blood cortisol levels a couple of hours after their shift ended, as well as measuring the quality of their sleep that night. 

The research team found that when workers had higher personal noise exposure during the day, they spent a lower proportion of total sleep time in slow-wave sleep, or the deepest stage of non-REM sleep. They also spent less total time asleep at night, compared to when they had less noise exposure at work, according to the results in the journal Sleep Medicine. 

“With an eight-hour workday, the idea behind having 16 hours off is that it’s good enough to recuperate and get back to work again,” Sharma said. “That’s not enough because your cortisol levels are still increased.” 

Future research should look at a larger group of study participants, as well as longer noise exposures, both during the week and during a longer career, Sharma said. Extended noise exposure and poor sleep could lead to a lower mental status and cognitive abilities on the job, she added. 

“People aren’t often aware of workplace noise before they apply for or accept a job,” she noted. “If it’s not a typical office environment, workers should know the noise levels and have the option of wearing hearing protection to protect themselves.” 

Researchers need to understand the psychosocial and metabolic consequences of poor sleep quality, write the study authors, who did not respond to a request for comments. 

“Good sleep is required for better health,” said Ravindra Khaiwal of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, who wasn’t involved in the study. “Poor sleep affects our normal daily biological rhythm, which could have serious health impacts in the longer term,” he said in an e-mail. 

A limitation of the study is that the link between noise exposure and sleep quality often becomes tangled in other aspects that may cause stress and increased cortisol levels, said Dr Mathias Basner of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, who also wasn’t involved in the study. 

“These noise environments cause stressors in other ways, and although you can try to address that in the study, you may not be able to capture it entirely,” he told Reuters Health by phone. 

“People need to be aware that noise has negative health consequences, not just for your hearing,” he added. 

Last night I bid goodbye to our daughter at the airport. Both of us hid our tearful eyes from each other as her much awaited two-week vacation came to an end and she went back to the United Kingdom. Her life there involved juggling the responsibilities of her marriage, household and job, including all the office politics that accompanied it.

For the short span that she visited us, she only wanted to eat home-cooked meals and go for long walks. Every suggestion of dinner at fancy restaurants was turned down in favour of spending quiet evenings in our company. She came prepared with a lot of questions and I was surprised to notice how carefully she listened to my replies. 

“Mum, how would you deal with this scenario or what would you do in that situation” were her recurrent queries. Some answers came easily but for others I had to delve deep into the recesses of my memory and recall what my own father or mother would have advocated. And then I had to mould it to fit the present predicament and convey to her, as gently as possible. Telling anyone, even your own child, to fulfil his or her obligations, is not easy. 

My inner struggle must be visible to this keen-eyed youngster because she would keep trailing after me with a multivitamin pill, and urge me to swallow it, each morning. Too polite to tell me that I was ageing, this was her way of showing concern towards my wrinkles. “I worry about you ma, you must look after your health,” she admonished me on a regular basis.

On the evening of her departure, as soon as we reached the check-in counter, we were told that her flight to London — by the country’s national carrier — was initially delayed, and then cancelled. With the usual callousness that the ground staff displays towards all passengers, nobody came forward to offer any explanation. The next flight to the same destination was after two days. There was an option of flying immediately in their partner airline, but there was no availability in the class of travel that she had paid for. The refund was to be requested at the customer care centre after the culmination of the journey, which was another way of saying that there would be no reimbursement.

Our daughter had an important meeting that she was chairing in her professional capacity and it was imperative that she reached her office the next day. However, she had purchased this club class ticket with her own salary and she was not keen to travel in a downgraded seat for twelve hours. Her father, who was always looking for ways to extend her stay, was delighted with this turn of events. Clutching her hand baggage, he wanted to head straight back to the car and drive us home. But this meant that she would definitely miss her official function and I could sense the mental battle that she was going through. Always modest about her work, she was not vocal enough about the loss she would suffer jobwise. 

“Mom, what would you do?” she asked me suddenly. 

“We have just fifteen minutes to decide,” our son-in-law added. 

“What would you do mom?” our daughter repeated, looking at me for guidance.

“If I were chairing such an event, I would take any seat, even travel standing up,” I said.

“Thank you! Let’s go,” our daughter exclaimed, hugging me goodbye.

PARIS — Video gaming can be addictive in the same way as cocaine or gambling, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday in a much anticipated update of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

“After consulting with experts across the world, and reviewing evidence in an exhaustive manner, we decided that this condition should be added,” Shekhar Saxena, director of the WHO’s department of mental health and substance abuse, told AFP.

Online and offline “gaming disorder” is grouped with “disorders due to substance use or addictive behaviours” in the ICD’s 11th edition, the first major revision in nearly three decades.

The wording of the new entries has been known since January, when the WHO announced problem gaming would be recognised as a pathological condition.

Key symptoms include “impaired control” — notably the inability to stop playing — and focusing on the game to the exclusion of everything else.

“The person does so much gaming that other interests and activities are ignored, including sleeping and eating,” Saxena said by phone.

In extreme cases, gamers unable to pry themselves away from a screen drop out of school, lose jobs, and become cut off from family and non-gaming friends.

Symptomatic behaviour must continue for at least a year before it is considered dangerously unhealthy, according to the new classification.

Some 2.5 billion people — one-in-three worldwide — play some form of free-to-play screen game, especially on cell phones, but the disorder only affects a “small minority”, said Saxena.

“We are not saying that all gaming is pathological.”

The games industry raked in $108 billion dollars worldwide in 2017, more than double movie box-office receipts, according to Superdata, which tracks the games and interactive media sector.

Nearly 40 per cent of those sales are in east Asia, especially China and South Korea. Other important markets include the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Brazil.

In South Korea and the United States, clinics have sprung up to treat video game addiction, along with community and online support groups.

So-called “shooter games” such as “Fortnite” — described on the support website Game Quitters as the “hottest game in the world” — are either played online or on offline consoles. 

The inclusion of “gaming disorder” in WHO’s revised catalogue of diseases met with resistence, both from industry and some experts.

“The WHO process lacks transparency, is deeply flawed and lacks scientific support,” Michael Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, said in a statement in March.

In a study to be published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, a group of 36 researchers said there was insufficient evidence to warrant the new category.

“Given the gravity of diagnostic classification and its wider social impact, we urge our colleagues at the WHO to err on the side of caution for now and postpone the formalisation,” they wrote in a study reviewing academic literature.

The ICD identifies about 55,000 separate injuries, diseases, conditions and causes of death, and is widely used as a benchmark for diagnoses and health insurance.

LOS ANGELES — The opening weekend of “Incredibles 2” was, well, incredible.

The Disney-Pixar movie flew to a record-breaking launch of $182.7 million in 4,410 locations, easily landing the superhero sequel the best debut of all time for an animated film. That title was previously held by fellow Pixar sequel “Finding Dory”, which bowed with $135 million in 2016.

“Incredibles 2” also landed the eighth-biggest domestic opening of all time, and surpassed 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” ($174.6 million) for the best debut for a PG-rated film.

Overseas, where it has opened in 26 per cent of the international market, Pixar’s 20th film collected $51.5 million, bringing its global total to $231.5 million.

With 14 years since the original film, 2004’s “The Incredibles”, enthusiasm has been strong for the follow up, and it seems that audiences and critics alike were not disappointed. The film boasts a coveted A+ CinemaScore, as well as a 94 per cent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The film shows the drawing power of the superhero genre, whether in the live action or animated realm,” box office analyst Paul Dergarbedian said. “The combination of the Pixar brand and Disney’s perfectly executed marketing and distribution strategy made the film an instant classic and a box office juggernaut.”

Disney’s Head of Distribution, Cathleen Taff, attributes the massive opening to pent up demand for another “Incredibles” film, along with positive word of mouth. It also helps that it’s been a while since a family film has hit multiplexes, she added.

“We’re so thrilled,” Taff said. “Brad and team put together a great film that delivers something for everybody. It was the perfect storm.”

“Incredibles 2” picks up directly following the events of the original film with the Parr family members attempting to balance having a normal life with their superpowers. Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Vowell, and Samuel L. Jackson reprise their voice roles, while Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener and Sophia Bush voice new characters. Brad Bird returned to write and direct the sequel.

“Incredibles 2” should set Disney back on track after “Solo: A Star Wars Story” disappointed earlier this summer. The expensive “Star Wars” film has had difficulty gaining traction at the box office since launching with $103 million over a four day weekend. Though every previous Disney-released “Star Wars” adventure has managed to fly past the $1 billion mark, “Solo” is struggling to cross $400 million.

Disney doesn’t exactly need to break a sweat, however. “Incredibles 2” scored the third biggest opening of 2018, meaning the three best debuts of 2018 all belong to the Magic Kingdom. Disney-Marvel titles “Black Panther” ($257.7 million) and “Avengers: Infinity War” ($202 million) secured the No. 1 and 2 spots.

Also opening this weekend was Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Tag”, which targeted a debut of $14.6 million in 3,382 theatres. The R-rated comedy — starring Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner — is based on a Wall Street Journal profile about a group of grown men who play a longstanding game of tag.

Though the film was aimed at male moviegoers, the audience breakdown was surprisingly 51 per cent female. Those over the age of 25 accounted for 78 per cent of audiences, while 58 per cent were under 35 years old. Attendees seem satisfied, giving the film a B+ CinemaScore and 74 per cent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

New Line’s latest title, “Game Night”, opened earlier this year with $17 million — a solid start given the film’s $16 million price tag. As of this week, the Jason Bateman/Rachel McAdams dark comedy has pocketed $117 million globally, including $69 million domestically.

The final wide release, “Superfly,” got a head start by opening on Wednesday. Sony’s remake of 1972 blaxploitation classic “Super Fly” pocketed $8.4 million in 2,220 locations during the five-day period. Well-known music video helmer Director X took the reigns on the $16 million project, which only began production in January and finished in time for its June release.

The film features all new songs written by rapper Future, who co-produced along with Joel Silver. “Superfly” stars Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael Kenneth Williams, Lex Scott Davis, and Jennifer Morrison.

The original 1972 “Super Fly”, starring Ron O’Neal and directed by Gordon Parks, was hugely profitable at the box office with a $30 million gross from a $500,000 budget. While the film became a cult hit, its soundtrack composed by R&B legend Curtis Mayfield became even more popular and ultimately outgrossed “Super Fly’s” box office earnings.

“Ocean’s 8” managed to steal the No. 2 spot in its sophomore frame, picking up another $19.5 million in 4,145 locations. The female-fronted heist spinoff had a series-best opening last weekend with $41.5 million. Its domestic tally currently sits at $79 million.

In fourth is “Solo: A Star Wars Story” with $9.3 million on 3,182 screens. In four weeks, the tentpole has made $193 million at the domestic box office.

Rounding out the top five is another superhero sequel, “Deadpool 2”, which scored $8.6 million in its fifth outing. To date, 21st Century Fox’s blockbuster starring Ryan Reynolds has amassed $294.5 million domestically.

At the specialty box office, “Gotti” earned $1.6 million in 503 locations. John Travolta and Kelly Preston star in the mobster movie, directed by “Entourage” star Kevin Connolly. The film, which had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, was originally intended to be released by Lionsgate in 2017, but the studio sold it back to its producers two weeks before. Vertical Entertainment and Sunrider Productions are now co-distributing along with movie ticketing service MoviePass Ventures.

Meanwhile, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s documentary is having a heroic moment of its own. Magnolia and Participant Media’s “RBG” crossed the $10 million mark in just seven weeks.

Finally, Morgan Nevill’s Mister Rogers documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbour” brought in $985,000 when it expanded to 96 theatres. The biopic, which holds an impressive 99 per cent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has picked up $1.7 million in two weeks. Next week, it will expand to over 300 theatres.

Adolescents who do not get enough sleep may be more likely to develop risk factors for heart disease like high blood pressure and excess body fat, a US study suggests. 

“Sleep matters,” said Dr Elsie Taveras of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “Sleep quantity and quality are pillars of health alongside diet and physical activity.” 

Taveras and colleagues asked 829 teens to wear activity trackers on their wrists to log nighttime sleep and daytime activity for 7 to 10 days. They also examined risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes by measuring teens’ waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol and a hallmark of diabetes known as insulin resistance. 

Overall, half of the teens slept for at least 7.4 hours a night, the study found. Only about 2 per cent of them got the minimum 8 hours a night recommended by the National Sleep Foundation for teens aged 14 to 17 or the minimum 9 hours a night recommended for youth ages 11 to 13. 

Most participants had what would be considered “low sleep efficiency,” because after falling asleep, they stayed asleep for only about 84 per cent of the time. 

Longer sleep and higher sleep efficiency — that is, staying asleep for more of the time — were associated with lower blood pressure, smaller waist circumference, less fat mass and lower cholesterol levels, researchers report in Pediatrics. 

While plenty of previous research has linked insufficient sleep to a wide range of health problems including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and mood disorders, many of these studies have focused on adults or failed to objectively measure sleep. 

“Interestingly, many of the relationships we observed in this study were independent of diet quality and physical activity as well as overall body fatness, which are some of the main pathways through which inadequate sleep is thought to influence cardiometabolic risk,” Taveras added in an email. 

The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how sleep quantity or quality might directly impact cardiometabolic risk factors in young people. 

It’s also unclear whether poor sleep might have caused health problems like excess fat or high blood pressure, or whether underlying medical conditions might have compromised teens’ ability to sleep. 

Even so, the findings underscore the broad influence sleep can have on other aspects of adolescent health, said James Gangwisch, a psychiatry researcher at Columbia University in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study. 

“Getting inadequate sleep increases hunger by affecting the appetite hormones leptin and ghrelin, which can lead to overeating and weight gain,” Gangwisch said by email. “Not getting enough sleep can also make you feel tired and stressed, making it more difficult to participate in regular exercise and to adhere to a dietary plan.” 

Parents need to teach children to make sleep a priority and help them develop a good bedtime routine, Gangwisch added. 

“The current study highlights the negative impact of insufficient sleep on physical health, but a child’s mental, and emotional capabilities are compromised as well,” Gangwisch said. “Simply going to bed earlier can pay huge dividends in terms of improved energy, mood, concentration and ability to learn.”