From the perspective of the Family Systems Approach, a case study of a patient with severe obesity being prepared to perform surgery to reduce stomach in a public hospital in Brasilia-DF is presented. Data collection was performed in two home visits to construction of the genogram, family collage made by family and carry out two tasks. The study demonstrates the strong link between food and family membership, and strengthen aspects of family dynamics of systems with obese members of the literature, such as diffuse internal borders and external rigid, few leisure activities, emphasis on family loyalty; obesity seen as single family problem avoidance conflict. Finally, the authors suggest to expand the inclusion of family therapy in the preoperative and postoperative patients with severe obesity.
obesity; family dynamic; family therapy
