African American women give up sports because of... Hairstyles
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
A sedentary lifestyle threatens a person with big health problems. In developed countries, low physical activity of people is one of the main causes of many diseases, and the scale of the problem has long been threatening.
Perhaps, each of us understands how important physical activity is to avoid obesity, hypertension and other diseases that are constant companions of a sedentary lifestyle. Nevertheless, not all people visit gyms, swimming pools, regularly do exercises or make morning jogs. Yes there - even the most common walking tour for many is a rarity. The reasons why people refuse to exercise can be very different, but perhaps the most unique of them, American scientists managed to find out by the survey of 103 African American women. Forty percent of them said that they avoided physical exercises because of their own hairstyles, the care of which requires a lot of time and energy for black women.
According to statistics, African-Americans are less likely to exercise regularly than white American women. Scientists from the School of Medicine at Wake Forest and their colleagues decided to conduct a study that would help to find out the causes of this phenomenon. It turned out that the blame for everything could be that representatives of the Negroid race care for hair is more difficult than for women-Europeoids. In this regard, African Americans in the general mass are less likely than whites to wash their hair in order to keep their hairstyle intact. Therefore, they refuse regular physical exercises, after which it is necessary to take a shower.
"Hair care was one of the reasons that African American women who participated in the survey refused to exercise," said lead author Rebecca Hall. "More than half of the women admitted that they are engaged in less than 75 minutes a week, and 26.2 percent reported that they do not exercise at all."
The average age of 103 female respondents is 42 years.
Most of these women (62.1 percent) straighten their hair, and 81.6 percent wash their hair once every 1-2 weeks.
35.9 percent of the respondents reported that hair care does not allow them to go to the pool and take water procedures. 29.1 percent of African American women said that for the same reason they refuse aerobics and gymnastics.
Also, scientists found that women with normal scalp (not greasy and not dry) exercise more often than those who have problems with the condition of the scalp and hair.
"An effective strategy for promoting exercise among African-American women who are prone to obesity and diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle should include solving dermatological problems. A high percentage of women with problematic scalp among African-American women shows that dermatologists should take a closer look at these minor symptoms at first glance when helping African-American women, "the study authors conclude.