Do You Avoid Exercise to Maintain Your Hairdo? A New Study Shows Black Females Do

According to a recent article published in the Huffington Post UK, two out of every five African American women avoid exercise because of concerns about their hairstyles, a study has found.

 

The findings, which were published in the Archives of Dermatology on Monday, sparked concerns about the obesity epidemic in the United States.

Dr. Amy McMichael, a dermatologist at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and senior researcher for the study, was prompted to begin her investigation after taking note of how overweight her female African American patients were.

The Huffington Post UK reports that the study gathered 103 African American women, ranging in age from 21 to 60, and had them participate in a 40-question survey that asked about physical activity, hair care and maintenance, hair and scalp concerns.

 

The questions included: how much and what types of exercise they do, and the time, expense and complications of caring for their hair.

 

While all participants agreed that exercise was important, 40 percent of the women reported avoiding exercise due to hair-related issues, and half said they had modified their hairstyle to accommodate exercise.

 

New York Magazine column, ‘The Cut,’ offered an important addition to the findings in stating, "While the unique characteristics of African-American hair shouldn’t be shrugged off here, it’s also true that many non-black women forgo exercise for hair-related reasons."

 

Do you ever worry about sweating out your hairdo or messing up your hair while working out? I surely don't. I sweat out my hair with no problem! This is exercise, not a time to look pretty and all dolled up. But, I have heard plenty of women say, "I just got a perm, I can't sweat it out!" Hey, I say throw that hair up in a pony tail and get to work!

 

(Source: via Huffington Post UK)