Bodily trajectories and everyday life: a qualitative study of transgender pre- and adolescents and caregivers

Background and aim Transgender children and adolescents have become increasingly visible in clinical and public debates, which have largely centered on mental health outcomes and medical aspects of gender-affirming care, with less attention to everyday practices. This study explored how transgender pre-adolescents, adolescents, and caregivers experience bodily development, eating, and daily activities.Methods This qualitative study used focus group discussions with transgender pre-adolescents and adolescents aged 11–18 years and caregivers of transgender children and adolescents receiving care at a specialized gender identity service in Brazil. Nine focus groups were conducted between May and June 2025. Data were analyzed using content analysis with combined deductive and inductive approaches.Results Relationships with the body were heterogeneous and ambivalent, organized primarily through developmental trajectories, temporality, and anticipated bodily changes rather than fixed categories of body satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Puberty emerged as a central temporal threshold, experienced in heterogeneous ways depending on developmental trajectories and access to gender-affirming interventions. Eating and physical activity appeared less as biomedical “health behaviors” than as moral, relational, and contextual practices shaped by pleasure, family routines, logistics, and social norms. Visibility and surveillance, particularly in school and sports settings, influenced engagement in physical activity. Caregivers played a key role in mediating bodily experiences, organizing routines, and enabling protective strategies.Conclusion Body, development, and everyday practices among transgender youth must be understood beyond medical transition alone. Eating and physical activity are embedded in lived, relational, and temporal experiences shaped by gender norms, visibility, and care, supporting more contextualized and gender-affirming approaches across health and education.