In islamic countries such as Afghanistan where it is required for women to be fully-covered, is heat stroke a common ailment for them?
Crap. This was supposed to be in GQ. Could someone move it over please?
Maybe. But in a place such as Afghanistan right now, I suspect malnutrition, infectious diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia from poor sanitation, childbirth complications, and spousal abuse probably outrank it.
This page (a guide for women participating in the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca) makes it sound as if traditional Saudi clothing would actually prevent heat stroke:
[quote]
How To Avoid Heat Stroke:
[ul]
[li]As far as possible, avoid direct heat from the sun.[/li][li]Remain in the shade.[/li][li]Go out during evenings and nights.[/li][li]Keep your body cool by drinking plenty of water.[/li][li]When you have to go out in the sun cover your body completely with clothes. Cover your head so that only your eyes and nose are exposed.[/ul][/li][/quote]
The page is on a Muslim site, and might well be biased, but that advice doesn’t seem to be totally out of line with what secular sources say about avoiding heat stroke. Most sources seem to stress wearing loose-fitting clothing (but a skin-tight chador or burqa would sort of defeat the purpose anyway), but even secular medical authorities don’t say “the best way to avoid heatstroke is to run around nekkid (or at least wear a miniskirt and a tank-top)”, and in fact talk about the usefulness of avoiding direct sunlight and wearing wide-brimmed hats and so on. One point: most secular sources stress wearing light-colored clothing (to reflect the sunlight), and I believe conservative Muslim women’s garb is generally black. To that extent at least the traditional garb would seem to put women at greater risk.
Of course, especially in the case of Afghanistan, I think the whole idea is that women aren’t really supposed to go out much.
Anything related to the Taliban will probably wind up over here sooner or later anyway. (Or in the Pit.)
MEBuckner is correct. There are some good reasons for not being thrilled with Islamic “dress codes”, but health isn’t one of them. Loose fitting clothing that covers the body are actually a superior attire in the desert compared to, say, shorts 
. ( A fact I’ve had a hard time convincing a few friends of mine of, when we’ve gone down to the CA deserts in the spring - Some people just won’t listen to reason 
).
Or to put it another way, the habit of wearing concealing robes in desert regions pre-dates Islam .
- Tamerlane