Sobre
Foreword
With 36 participating countries, this book is one of the largest international comparative studies ever done in the sport area. This book also represents the outcome of the collaborative efforts of the Trim and Fitness International Sport for All Association -TAFISA and its affiliate institutions with other international and national bodies dedicated to Sport for All.
The editorial work was supported by Universidade Gama Filho - Rio de Janeiro and the editors are proud to offer their experience of three decades on the central theme of this volume. The texts taken together illustrate the breadth, variety and meaning of Sport for All. They provide an encyclopedic and useful tool for the comparative study of national initiatives as well as cross-cultural interpretations of Sport for All.
At the same time that this book displays the results of a long-term research, it is also a data bank from which comparative information resources are ready to be used as reference by students, scholars, policy-makers, sport leaders and managers. In addition, the collected data from national cases of SFA provide adequate meaning to the initiatives of each country stimulating further research in specific themes and regions.
This book also lays groundwork for a field of study that has been neglected by theorists in recent years, when physical activities have become a key issue for a better quality of life in any part of the world. It is our hope that this sharing enterprise of people and institutions becomes an example of international cooperation in the fields of sport sciences, health education and leisure studies.
Lamartine P. DaCosta & Ana Miragaya, editors.
