Author:

• Arlene Leite Nunes - Nunes, A. L. - Joinville, Santa Catarina - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - <arlenenunes@gmail.com>

Thematic Area:

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Abstract:

Objective: Understanding the meaning of the teenagers’ experience of having ED’s (eating disorders), underscoring the aspects related to eating, from a phenomenological perspective. Method: 7 female teenagers with ED’s were interviewed, being taken care of in Florianópolis/SC. To analyze the interviews the signification units were identified, assessing the structure of the life experience. A categorization was made to reach the perception of the general structure of the experience, extracting the structure of the past experience. Results: 9 signification units were identified: the representation of the food, eating habits, food that no longer were eaten, food that they had began eating, the use of soda, food choices, the composition of the meals, family eating habits and healthy food. These showed the suffering that permeates the existence of all the interviewed teenagers, whether for gaining weight, for not considering herself thin enough, for eating too much, for not eating at all, for forcing vomiting, taking laxatives and diuretics, trying to commit suicide, seeing the parents suffering, not feeling understood by the others, or for themselves. Conclusion: This research allowed us study this phenomenon from another angle, the relation with the food, confirming how much the way we relate to food is connected to emotional matters. It also allowed showing how it is to live with an ED from the view of each of the interviewed teenagers.
Key words: Eating disorder, Psychology, Phenomenology, Nutrition, Adolescents

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