SUMMARY: Introduction. This article analyzes the social constructions of the body and its relationship with physical activity among adolescent women in Popayán (Colombia). Currently, information on such topics is still insufficient in the national and local context. This is because existing works focus on the relationship between body and eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia; the relationships that body image has with physical activity, as well as the description of individual and collective determinants that influence the social construction of the female body. From the above, within the research the body was defined under the concept of unfinished project. This definition makes it possible to understand how the body passes through the way a person thinks, feels and lives the health-disease process. Thus, this work focuses on how the adolescent population of a regional capital appropriates the concept of the body and relates it to physical activity and health. Methodology: A qualitative phenomenological study was developed with a group of girls and adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 in the city of Popayán. The information was gathered through semi-structured interviews, participant observation and corpographies. Results: Through this work an approximation was created about the thought of a group of girls and adolescents and their perspective of a social body related to physical activity. In this sense, it was evidenced the way in which these girls and adolescents body experience and express different thoughts and feelings through the body. Conclusions: The construction of the body changes throughout life, the relationship with the body also changes depending on the age and the context in which people are. In addition, the lack of information about physical activity in adolescence is notorious, as adolescent girls are not aware of what physical activity is, when it is performed, and the benefits that practicing it brings to their body. For the on the contrary, they relate physical activity and healthy habits to aesthetic issues.
