Hair Maintenance and Chemical Hair Product Usage as Barriers to Physical Activity in Childhood and Adulthood among African American Women

Abstract

Qualitative studies have identified haircare practices as important culturally specific barriers to physical activity (PA) among Black/African American (AA) women, but quantitative investigations are lacking. Using the Study of Environment, Lifestyle and Fibroids data among 1558 Black/AA women, we investigated associations between hair product usage/hair maintenance behaviors and PA during childhood and adulthood. Participants reported childhood and current chemical relaxer and leave-in conditioner use. Self-reported PA included childhood recreational sports participation, leisure-time PA engagement during adulthood, and, at each life stage, minutes of and intensity of PA. Adjusting for socioeconomic and health characteristics, we used Poisson regression with robust variance to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each PA measure for more vs. less frequent hair product use/hair maintenance. Thirty-four percent reported ≥twice/year chemical relaxer use and 22% reported ≥once/week leave-in conditioner use at age 10 years, and neither were associated with PA at age 10 years. In adulthood, ≥twice/year chemical relaxer users (30%) were less likely (PR = 0.90 [95% CI: 0.79–1.02]) and ≥once/week leave-in conditioner users (24%) were more likely (PR = 1.09 [95% CI: 0.99–1.20]) to report intense PA compared to counterparts reporting rarely/never use. Hair product use/maintenance may influence PA among Black/AA women and impact cardiometabolic health disparities.

Benefits and barriers to physical activity among African women: A systematic review

“… 49 Cross-sectional study Detroit, Michigan 1 558 23–35 years Hair product use/maintenance Intrapersonal barriers. Robinson & Wicks 50 Cross-sectional study Alabama 19 21–60 years Type of employment and h worked. Religiosity.…”

Mechanisms of impairment in hair and scalp induced by hair dyeing and perming and potential interventions

“…Hair perms have an effect on breaking the disulfide bond in hair, which is the necessary step to reshape the hairstyle, but it is the main mechanism that is harmful to hair. In terms of physical and mechanical property changes of human hair resulting from all phases of hair perming, a certain amount of research has been performed ( 29 , 30 ). Baus et al revealed that strongly enhanced penetrability after perming was reflected by the mean penetration depth for fluorescein of 25 μm compared to 5 μm for natural fibers.…”

Evaluating Neighborhood-Level Differences in Hair Product Safety by Environmental Working Group Ratings among Retailers in Boston, Massachusetts

“… 6 , 19 , 20 There is limited literature examining how hair product use may vary by socioeconomic status (SES). 21 More broadly, the findings on PCP use by SES are mixed, with some studies reporting greater product use among higher SES participants, and others finding greater product use among lower SES participants. 7 , 22 , 23 …”