Obesity is a public health issue with relevant social determinants in its etiology and where interventions with teenagers encounter complex biopsychological conditions. This study evaluated intervention in nutritional education through a problem-posing approach with 22 obese teenagers, treated collectively and individually for eight months. Speech acts were collected through the use of word cards, observer recording, and tape-recording. The study adopted a qualitative methodology, and the approach involved content analysis. Problem-posing facilitated changes in eating behavior, triggering reflections on nutritional practices, family circumstances, social stigma, interaction with health professionals, and religion. Teenagers under individual care posed problems more effectively in relation to eating, while those under collective care posed problems in relation to family and psychological issues, with effective qualitative eating changes in both groups. The intervention helped teenagers understand their life history and determinants of eating behaviors, spontaneously implementing eating changes and making them aware of possibilities for maintaining the new practices and autonomously exercising their role as protagonists in their own health care.
Nutrition Education; Health Education; Obesity; Adolescent Nutrition