[Development of health promotion in Brazil in the last twenty years (1988-2008)].

This paper examines the institutionalization of health promotion (HP) in Brazil in the twenty years following the proclamation of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution. The legal and institutional foundations of HP are delineated, as well as its recent reassertion as a national policy. Moreover, the praxis of HP within the health system and other instances are analyzed, and the institutional capacity building - by means of research and training of human resources - is examined. Around 100 papers were revised, including institutional policy documents, decrees, laws, and annals of congresses and other events. The authors' personal experience in the ideational conception of the area and in the institutionalization of health promotion as a public policy in the country was also drawn upon. Finally, major restrictions to the theoretical and practical development of health promotion are criticized and a few ideas that might benefit such development are presented.