The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, is telling women to forget about how their hair looks and focus on getting the exercise their body needs!
She spoke at the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show, which draws 60,000 hairstylists, and spoke about the importance of putting down the hair brush and putting on a pair of running shoes.
In an interview, she said:
├óΓé¼┼ôOftentimes you get women saying, ├óΓé¼╦£I can├óΓé¼Γäót exercise today because I don├óΓé¼Γäót want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet.’ When you├óΓé¼Γäóre starting to exercise, you look for reasons not to, and sometimes the hair is one of those reasons.├óΓé¼┬¥
While some suggest there are BIGGER obstacles preventing women from exercising (work, school, kids) Dr. Benjamin maintains removing any barrier to physical activity is crucial to the health of American women.
In particular, her research has found African American women — a group that has a higher rate of obesity than any other demographic — make hair care a priority over fitness.
For example, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina sampled 103 black women from the area and found that about a third exercised less because they were concerned it would jeopardize their hair.
Dr. Benjamin suggests hairstylists start encouraging their clients to live a healthier lifestyle, explaining:
“When they have that customer in their chair they build up a rapport with them, they build up a trust. We want them talking about health issues.”
We understand that everyone wants their hair to look good, but we’d rather undergo a few bad hair days during the week to have a great body AND great hair on the weekend! Besides, great hair won’t help increase your lifespan!
[Image via WENN.]
