Abstract
In times when a diversity of conditions resulting from unhealthy lifestyles and habits, characteristic of modern lifestyle, the notion of risk behavior becomes more and more present in the discourse and in health practices. In the context of adolescence studies, this issue has been analyzes by a series of investigations related to alcohol and other drugs use, smoking, inadequate diet, sedentary lifestyle, unprotected sexual activity and other behaviors that, when observed among young people, increase the risk to this particular phase of development. This article aims to critically discuss the construction of risk and adolescence as a concept and as an object of investigation in intervention and health care. It is structured as a qualitative study with individual and in depth interviews with 12 adolescents from Lagoa Santa city in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The results point to different personal and emotional aspects raised by the youth usually not included in the research in the area, which nevertheless greatly influences the behavior of adolescents. We conclude that for the improvement and the resolution of public policies and actions towards the theme of risk behaviors, it is necessary to expand the scope of research on the concept of risks and theoretical perspectives that give them support.
Key words:
risk behavior; adolescence; Collective Health