How many follicles do you have on your head?! Let’s discover five healthy hair facts for kids.
The average head contains over 100,000 hair follicles. We naturally lose 50-150 hairs a day. Did you know that the hair that you see is actually considered dead. The hair that is found in the follicle is the only living part of your hair. This is the hair we can not see. Blondes have the most hair follicles and redheads have the least amount of hair follicles. Only about 2% of the world’s population has natural red hair! Ireland is the country with the most redheads in the world.
Every strand of hair on your head can support up to 100g. We know that we have on average 100,000 strands of hair on our heads, meaning a whole head of hair could support the weight of two elephants or three hippos. Impressive huh? Stretched hair can even be compared to the strength of steel!
It may not look like it but only 5% of your body is hairless. The only parts of your body that do not grow hair are your lips, palms of your hands and soles of your feet. We actually have the same amount of hair follicles as our closest living relative, the chimpanzee. The only difference between our hair and chimpanzees hair is that ours is less thick and less dark. One of the main characteristics of mammals is human hair and animal fur. There are only a few mammals in the world that are regarded as being hairless or nearly hairless, including elephants, rhinoceroses, pigs and whales.
Your hair is mostly made out of Keratin, which is the same protein in the outer layer of our skin and our fingernails. Keratin is also found in animals’ hooves, claws, wool and feathers. Hair has three layers. Keratin keeps your hair in a healthy condition. The outer layer is the cuticle. The second layer is called the cortex and the inner layer is known as the medulla. Did you know that your hair grows faster in the summer than it does in the winter. This is because there is more blood flow to the scalp in warmer weather, whereas colder weather diverts blood flow to internal organs instead.
Although we all love our hair to look nice, our hair actually serves a great purpose. Hair on your eyebrows and eyelashes protect your eyes from dirt, dust, and sweat from your forehead. Eyebrows are also important for communicating your emotions, such as sadness and excitement. The hair on our head also helps to protect us from the sun’s UV rays, provides cushioning for your skull and keeps your head warm.
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