Abstract Aim:

The promulgation of the 1996 Education Guidelines and Bases Law promotes debate on the construction of National Curricular Parameters (NCPs) for Basic Education, emerging traditional disciplines and transversal themes. Considering the relevance of NCPs today, the objective of this research was to analyze NCPs related to health and to identify relationships between health and physical education in NCPs for Physical Education in Elementary and High School.

Method:

This is a documentary study that analyzed the respective documents. Paul Ricœur's hermeneutic approach was used for the interpretation of these documents.

Discussion:

In this section, it was identified that these documents recognize health as a right; present a dynamic conception of health and emphasize the importance of citizen education. However, the documents contradict each other by emphasizing a reduction of Physical Education to physical exercise, remodeling of habits, emphasized valorization of biological mechanisms, and contradictory facts to understand health dynamics.

Conclusion:

Finally, the conclusions emphasize the main points in each document, showing that there are advances but there are also divergences between them related to health issues and even setbacks. In addition, new investigations related to this theme are suggested.