Surgeon general Regina Benjamin to step down

WASHINGTON U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has announced plans to step down next month.

Benjamin has served as "America's doctor" for four years.

In an email to staff Wednesday, Benjamin said she will remain involved in public health. As surgeon general, she promoted disease prevention, smoking cessation and healthy lifestyles, particularly among minorities. Benjamin oversaw a report that documented how smoking, even an occasional cigarette or secondhand smoke, can cause immediate damage to the human body.

Benjamin was nominated for the surgeon general post in July 2009, and was approved by the Senate on Oct. 29, 2009. President Barack Obama lauded her experience with working with poorer communities and her promotion of prevention and wellness campaigns in order to ward off more serious diseases and complications.

She caused some controversy when she said that fear of perspiration and the expensive cost of hairstyles is what is deterring many African American women from exercising. However, many other doctorshave taken up the cause, with some even sponsoring a "hair fitness" competition to promote healthy lifestyles. Benjamin served as a judge at the 2012 competition.

"Oftentimes you get women saying, 'I can't exercise today because I don't want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,'" Benjamin said at a trade show in August 2011. "When you're starting to exercise, you look for reasons not to, and sometimes the hair is one of those reasons."

A native of Alabama, Benjamin is widely respected for founding a rural health clinic in that state, which she kept going although it was wiped out three times by fire and hurricanes. She plans to volunteer seeing patients at the clinic.

Health and Human Services spokeswoman Dori Salcido said the administration is grateful for Benjamin's service.