Combating Hair Related Barriers to Physical Activity Among African American Female Adolescents with Yoga

Black and African American adolescent girls have a disproportionate prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease when compared to any other ethnic group. Data from previous studies have determined that hair harassment and hair care maintenance are explicit barriers to physical activity among Black and African American female adolescents. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to examine the lived experiences and implications of hair harassment, hair bias, and hair maintenance among African American female adolescents and investigate their usage and perceptions of yoga/mind-body practice to overcome hair related barriers to physical activity. Nine African American females aged 14-17 years old, attending an urban school in Central Kentucky participated in focus groups and follow-up interviews during their advisory block of school. Major themes of hair harassment emerged during early childhood primarily from Black boys, peer hair touching, physical inactivity due to straight hair and isolation in physical education courses, and stress relief from yoga practice. Findings of this study suggest that physical education courses adopt curriculum changes to more inclusive and culturally relevant teaching that consider hair practices and yoga education. School leaders should revise policies that include hair harassment as a form of bullying and consider the impact of yoga/mind-body practices on students’ race-based trauma experiences. Yoga/mind-body practices, through a racial trauma informed lens should be integrated in the physical education curriculum to enhance social emotional learning.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Year

2024

Author dc:creator

• Washington, Crystal Sherry'ce

• Black Hair;Physical Activity Barriers;Physical Education;Yoga/Mindfulness
• African American Studies
• Health and Physical Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/819

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1817