Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration
BackgroundAfrican 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 activ...
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doaj-8f4131e8cead4de4891eba459fb9c9812020-11-25T01:01:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652018-01-01510.3389/fpubh.2017.00367313484Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative ExplorationRodney P. Joseph0Kathryn Coe1Barbara E. Ainsworth2Steven P. Hooker3LaTanya Mathis4Colleen Keller5Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United StatesSocial and Behavioral Sciences Department, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesExercise Science and Health Promotion Program, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United StatesExercise Science and Health Promotion Program, School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United StatesPreviously Affiliated with Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United StatesCenter for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United StatesBackgroundAfrican 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsThree 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.ConclusionFindings 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.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00367/fullAfrican Americanwomenphysical activitybarriershair styles |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Rodney P. Joseph Kathryn Coe Barbara E. Ainsworth Steven P. Hooker LaTanya Mathis Colleen Keller |
spellingShingle |
Rodney P. Joseph Kathryn Coe Barbara E. Ainsworth Steven P. Hooker LaTanya Mathis Colleen Keller Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration Frontiers in Public Health African American women physical activity barriers hair styles |
author_facet |
Rodney P. Joseph Kathryn Coe Barbara E. Ainsworth Steven P. Hooker LaTanya Mathis Colleen Keller |
author_sort |
Rodney P. Joseph |
title |
Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration |
title_short |
Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration |
title_full |
Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration |
title_fullStr |
Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration |
title_sort |
hair as a barrier to physical activity among african american women: a qualitative exploration |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Public Health |
issn |
2296-2565 |
publishDate |
2018-01-01 |
description |
BackgroundAfrican 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsThree 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.ConclusionFindings 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. |
topic |
African American women physical activity barriers hair styles |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00367/full |
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