A study of nearly 2,000 adults and children in South Africa found that one in seven schoolgirls and a third of women were suffering from "traction alopecia", hair loss thought to be caused by excessive and prolonged pulling of the hair....Hair loss was found to be more common in children whose hair had been chemically "relaxed" or straightened to form a ponytail. One in five children with relaxed hair had traction alopecia, against just one in twenty of those with natural hair. In adults, hair loss was found to be more likely among women with either "relaxed" hair or braided natural hair, as against natural hair without braids; and it was most common when the hair was relaxed and also had extensions (such as braids or weaves) attached.