Physical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysis

Objective: This article analyzed official physical activity (PA) recommendations in South American countries, particularly regarding the guidelines and concepts of PA, health, and population. Methods: The research is documentary and exploratory. The primary sources are 10 documents from the Ministr...

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Main Authors: Priscilla de Cesaro Antunes, Heitor Martins Pasquim, María Rosa Corral-Vázquez, Tatiana Castillo, Rodrigo Soto-Lagos, Fernanda Ramos Parreira, Leonardo Trapaga Abib, Claudia Cortés-Garcia, María Laura Pagola, Edwin Alexander Canon-Buitrago
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Atividade Física e Saúde 2025-06-01
Series:Revista Brasileira de Atividade Física e Saúde
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Online Access:https://rbafs.org.br/RBAFS/article/view/15501
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author Priscilla de Cesaro Antunes
Heitor Martins Pasquim
María Rosa Corral-Vázquez
Tatiana Castillo
Rodrigo Soto-Lagos
Fernanda Ramos Parreira
Leonardo Trapaga Abib
Claudia Cortés-Garcia
María Laura Pagola
Edwin Alexander Canon-Buitrago
author_facet Priscilla de Cesaro Antunes
Heitor Martins Pasquim
María Rosa Corral-Vázquez
Tatiana Castillo
Rodrigo Soto-Lagos
Fernanda Ramos Parreira
Leonardo Trapaga Abib
Claudia Cortés-Garcia
María Laura Pagola
Edwin Alexander Canon-Buitrago
author_sort Priscilla de Cesaro Antunes
collection DOAJ
description Objective: This article analyzed official physical activity (PA) recommendations in South American countries, particularly regarding the guidelines and concepts of PA, health, and population. Methods: The research is documentary and exploratory. The primary sources are 10 documents from the Ministries of Health of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela concerning public policies on PA promotion and health promotion. The data analysis was based on a qualitative approach within social research, from a decolonial theoretical perspective. Results: The results showed that the analyzed guidelines reproduce the multicausal explanatory model of health-disease processes and that the recommendatory-prescriptive approach for a medicalized PA prevails. These are marks of epistemological-sanitary colonialism. The data indicate that the identified South American countries have been importing and translating, in their own way, conservative references from the global north, that do not necessarily dialogue with the continent’s socio-sanitary needs. Conclusion: In this sense, one way to locate alternative counter-references to the hegemonic logic, based on local realities, is to follow the premises of the Latin American field of Collective Health and the Critical Epidemiology of Bodily Practices.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2317-1634
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Sociedade Brasileira de Atividade Física e Saúde
record_format Article
series Revista Brasileira de Atividade Física e Saúde
spelling doaj-art-0a98716eba0248e68de9256bbaf161542025-08-20T03:29:39ZengSociedade Brasileira de Atividade Física e SaúdeRevista Brasileira de Atividade Física e Saúde2317-16342025-06-013010.12820/rbafs.30e0391iPhysical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysisPriscilla de Cesaro Antunes 0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2739-193XHeitor Martins Pasquim1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4994-7399María Rosa Corral-Vázquezhttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-0593-1334Tatiana Castillo2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7365-0501Rodrigo Soto-Lagos3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3564-8419Fernanda Ramos Parreira4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8168-9185Leonardo Trapaga Abib5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9335-2141Claudia Cortés-Garcia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1939-7653María Laura Pagola6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7429-1881Edwin Alexander Canon-Buitragohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6853-7221Federal University of GoiásFederal University of São PauloUniversity of Santiago ChileUniversity of Santiago ChileFederal University of GoiásFederal University of GoiásNational University of La Plata Objective: This article analyzed official physical activity (PA) recommendations in South American countries, particularly regarding the guidelines and concepts of PA, health, and population. Methods: The research is documentary and exploratory. The primary sources are 10 documents from the Ministries of Health of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela concerning public policies on PA promotion and health promotion. The data analysis was based on a qualitative approach within social research, from a decolonial theoretical perspective. Results: The results showed that the analyzed guidelines reproduce the multicausal explanatory model of health-disease processes and that the recommendatory-prescriptive approach for a medicalized PA prevails. These are marks of epistemological-sanitary colonialism. The data indicate that the identified South American countries have been importing and translating, in their own way, conservative references from the global north, that do not necessarily dialogue with the continent’s socio-sanitary needs. Conclusion: In this sense, one way to locate alternative counter-references to the hegemonic logic, based on local realities, is to follow the premises of the Latin American field of Collective Health and the Critical Epidemiology of Bodily Practices. https://rbafs.org.br/RBAFS/article/view/15501Bodily practicesPublic healthLatin AmericaPublic policiesPhysical Education
spellingShingle Priscilla de Cesaro Antunes
Heitor Martins Pasquim
María Rosa Corral-Vázquez
Tatiana Castillo
Rodrigo Soto-Lagos
Fernanda Ramos Parreira
Leonardo Trapaga Abib
Claudia Cortés-Garcia
María Laura Pagola
Edwin Alexander Canon-Buitrago
Physical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysis
Revista Brasileira de Atividade Física e Saúde
Bodily practices
Public health
Latin America
Public policies
Physical Education
title Physical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysis
title_full Physical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysis
title_fullStr Physical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysis
title_full_unstemmed Physical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysis
title_short Physical activity recommendations in South America: a decolonial analysis
title_sort physical activity recommendations in south america a decolonial analysis
topic Bodily practices
Public health
Latin America
Public policies
Physical Education
url https://rbafs.org.br/RBAFS/article/view/15501
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