Many African American women cite their hairstyle as exercise obstacle.

MIAMI -- Nearly one-third of women of African descent exercise less because they have concerns about hairstyle management, according to a survey presented at an international symposium sponsored by L'Oreal Institute for Ethnic Hair and Skin Research.

"Sweating out their hairstyle and the time to wash, dry, and style their hair were the top two reasons they did not exercise as frequently," Shani E Smith said. "We believe hair care should be explored as another barrier to exercise in this population."

The obesity epidemic is well known in the U.S. population, and "it is also known that African American women are disproportionately affected," said Ms. Smith, a fourth-year medical student at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. The departments of dermatology and public health collaborated on the survey.

A total of 31% of 103 women indicated they reduced physical activity levels because of concerns over hairstyle management. "They were three times less likely to meet exercise levels [odds ratio, 2.94] if their hairstyle was a concern," Ms. Smith said. Of this group, 88% did not meet physical activity guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the American College of Sports Medicine.

"Time and motivation are common and ethnically indistinct barriers [to physical activity], but hairstyle management may be a unique barrier for African American women.

Effective physical activity promotion strategies to address this barrier should be utilized," Ms. Smith said at the meeting, which was also sponsored by Howard University.

Half the respondents said they had considered modifying their hairstyle to accommodate exercise, she said. Hair braiding and wearing a ponytail were the leading considerations.

Respondents were aged 21-60 years. Most (72) identified themselves as African American, while 12 were African, 3 were Caribbean or West Indian, and 15 identified themselves as "other black" or of African descent. One person listed multiple ethnic backgrounds, Ms. Smith said.

The women were considered active if they reported 150 minutes of physical activity per week or 30 minutes per day at least 5 days per week. "Although 100% of respondents believe it's important for them and other African American females to exercise, very few are meeting this physical activity cutoff," she pointed out.

"Daily living was the No. 1 reason they engage in physical activity, mostly related to housework or other similar things," said Ms. Smith, who had no relevant conflicts to disclose.

The survey also asked about hair care practices. A total of 42% of the respondents said that they spent more than 1 hour per week on hair care, including regular visits to a salon.