Taking anorexia nervosa as an object of socio-anthropological study: approach with the research subjects

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that mainly affects adolescents and young women. Although the disease is always associated with body and food when it is addressed, because it is conceived as a psychiatric disorder, the way it is understood is often limited to the field of mental health. The objectve of this ethnographic study with adolescents in treatment for anorexia nervosa in a benchmark public health service in the city of Rio de Janeiro is to describe the daily operations of the institution and demonstrate how knowledge of the disease can be broadened by other disciplinary viewpoints and by adolescents themselves. This paper presents a first approach to the field and adolescents surveyed. It also deals with the construction of the field of research and the "conversion" of the nutritionist into an anthropologist. Such a conversion was needed, among other reasons, to identify the tension within the seelcted health service among health professionals, families and adolescents. Keywords: Adolescent. Adolescent Health Services. Social Sciences. Public Health. Ethnography. Anthropology Cultural.