Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration.

Rodney P Joseph,Colleen Keller,Latanya Mathis,Kathryn Coe,Barbara E Ainsworth,Steven P Hooker

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2017.00367

Abstract

African American (AA) women face unique sociocultural barriers to physical activity (PA) engagement. Such barriers may contribute to their low PA levels and high cardiometabolic disease burden. One particular barrier reported among AA women in recent research is that being physically active can have an undesirable effect on the hairstyles and hair maintenance of many AA women. However, the underlying mechanisms contributing to this barrier have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study is to explore hairstyle maintenance as a barrier to PA among AA women and to identify effective strategies to overcome this barrier in the design of a culturally relevant PA intervention. A qualitative study design was used. Data were collected from the focus groups comprising 23 sedentary and obese AA women (median age = 38.1 years, median body mass index = 39.8 kg/m2). Content analysis was used to analyze these focus group data. Three key themes emerged from the qualitative narratives of participants: (1) impact of perspiration on hair and hairstyle maintenance, (2) image and social comparisons, and (3) solutions to overcome hair-related barriers to PA. For impact of perspiration and hairstyle maintenance, participants described how perspiring while engaging in PA negatively impacts many of their hairstyles. Participants further discussed how time and monetary burdens associated with PA-related hairstyle maintenance further contributed to this issue. Findings for the theme of image and social comparison focused on how an AA woman's hairstyle is an important part of the image and the social comparisons made by non-AAs regarding the hairstyles and maintenance practices of AA women. For solutions to hairstyle maintenance barriers, participant described a variety of potential styling techniques that may help alleviate PA-related maintenance concerns, including braids, locks, and natural hairstyles. However, no styling technique was uniformly endorsed by all study participants. Findings highlight the significance of hair in the AA community and provide further insight on appropriate intervention design strategies to overcome this sociocultural barrier to PA. Future research is needed to corroborate and further expand on our findings.

Highlights

African American (AA) women are disproportionally burdened with cardiometabolic disease conditions
The purpose of this study is to explore hairstyle maintenance as a barrier to physical activity (PA) among AA women and to identify effective strategies to overcome this barrier in the design of a culturally relevant PA intervention
Findings highlight the significance of hair in the AA community, the desire for AA women to preserve the hairstyles they select and work hard to maintain, and how perspiration and disarranging of hair while being physically active is perceived as an almost insurmountable barrier to PA among many AA women

Summary

Introduction

African American (AA) women are disproportionally burdened with cardiometabolic disease conditions. Only 36% of adult AA women achieve the national PA guidelines for aerobic activity (i.e., 150 min/week of moderate-intensity PA, 75 min of vigorous intensity PA, or an equivalent of combination of moderate-to-vigorous PA), compared to 48% of all Americans, 46% of white women, and 41% AA men [4] These disparities in PA engagement and subsequent cardiometabolic risk highlight the need for effective intervention strategies to promote PA in this high-risk population [5,6,7]. African American (AA) women face unique sociocultural barriers to physical activity (PA) engagement Such barriers may contribute to their low PA levels and high cardiometabolic disease burden. The purpose of this study is to explore hairstyle maintenance as a barrier to PA among AA women and to identify effective strategies to overcome this barrier in the design of a culturally relevant PA intervention

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Discussion

Conclusion