CHRIS ROCK'S controversial documentary, "Good Hair," about black women's love/hate relationship with their hair, spoke volumes to me. Like "The Hair Piece" sketch in George C. Wolfe's satirical 1986 play, "The Colored Museum," the movie is funny but sadly tragic, too.

I know all too well about good hair. Good hair is straight and silky - the complete opposite of my kinky, thick, tightly curled hair.

As if it were just yesterday, I can recall the torturous hours spent having my hair fried with a hot comb. No one liked the job of straightening my particularly resilient and resistant mane.

Every straightening agent invented, from Vigorol Liquid Hair Relaxer to the super-perm, was applied to my disobedient locks.

When I was a teen, I embraced cornrows and individual braided styles. In fact, braiding hair was my side hustle throughout college.

I have worn my hair in nearly every style conceivable, from natural to weaves. I don't dis a sister for whatever she does. It's her hair: her decision. I don't judge her as a sellout or say that she's not "down."

Deciding to wear one's hair "natural" does not mean that you are by definition more political or more spiritually rooted. Natural hair does not enlightenment bring (nor does being a vegetarian or wearing African garb), though some seem to think it does.

To the contrary, a woman might look like a black Barbie and possess the soul of a revolutionary such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Marva Collins, Sonia Sanchez, bell hooks or Joan Morgan.

What I find shockingly tragic is our misplaced values. Rock's film, now in theaters, revealed that we spend a whopping $9 billion annually on our hair. Obviously, we place a higher value on our hair than our health.

African-American women have some of the worst health stats nationwide and can ill afford to continue with this conspicuous consumption. The latest statistics say that about 80 percent of black women are either overweight or obese. Many experts agree that as many as half of all African-American women could be classified as obese.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, 31.2 percent of African-American women were obese in 2001, a percentage that has gone up 19.3 percent in 10 years and continues to climb.

Don't believe it? Then believe this: African-American women have the highest death rates from heart disease, are twice as likely to have diabetes and have a 35 percent higher rate of death from breast cancer.

Yet our cultural conundrums and myths about health and beauty persist. We tend to live for the moment and go for the quick fixes - a little "retail therapy" followed up with a new do and a fresh mani-pedi.

It's easier to focus on the instant gratification of external changes, like getting our hair and nails done. The internal work of figuring out what's eating us and committing to healthy habits like daily exercise and proper nutrition requires consistent effort.

Many sisters say that they don't have time to exercise and cannot afford to go to the gym. Yet we're spending $9 billion on our hair alone (that's not counting the small fortune spent on nails, makeup, massages, clothes, shoes and purses). And it takes an average of six to nine hours in the salon or more to create some complex weaves and braided styles.

With any luck, "Good Hair" will not only keep the dialogue going but also cause a cultural paradigm shift to healthy hair, healthy hearts, healthy attitudes and a healthy life.

Kimberly Garrison is a certified personal trainer and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia (www.1on1ultimatefitness. com). E-mail her at kimberly@1on1ultimatefitness. com. Her column appears each Thursday in Yo!