Physical activity in the legislative production of the Federal Executive Power (1990 to 2023)

Objective: The goal of this study was to analyze the attention given to physical activity (PA) in laws promulgated by the Federal Executive Power from 1990 to 2023. Methods: This is a documentary, exploratory, and quantitative qualitative research. Political Science and the Punctuated Equilibrium model were adopted as the theoretical basis of this study. For the data collection, organization, and processing, the current study analyzed bills which mentioned the terms PA and body practices based on laws several presidents that ruled the Federative Republic of Brazil. These documents are available on Legislative and Legal Information Network electronic pages. Results: There was low attention given to PA, considering the relative frequency of the aforementioned bills (0.5%) in relation to the absolute value of the national legislative production in the Federal Executive Power in the years with laws mentioning PA. The legal system prioritized agendas on the acknowledgment of Physical Education as a healthcare profession and the insertion of PA in the Unified Health System. Conclusion: Despite the inclusion of health promotion as a structuring element of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution and 2006 National Policy of Health Promotion, the legal fragility of PA as a vector of development of the aforementioned policy can be noted. In addition, the findings highlight the need to expand studies on the topic in the perspective of offering technical-scientific evidence for political discussion about the expansion of legislative production exclusively on PA.