Biomedicalised Physical Education and Body-, Eating-, and Exercise-Related Concerns: Initial Evidence From a New Measure

Physical education is increasingly shaped by health-related rationales, yet concerns remain about the consequences of framing the subject through a biomedical discourse centered on bodily optimization, individual responsibility, and measurable health outcomes. This article examined whether young adults' retrospective perceptions of biomedical discourse in physical education were associated with body-, eating-, and exercise-related concerns during schooling, while also developing the Biomedical Discourse in Physical Education Scale (BD-PES), a brief instrument designed to capture such perceptions. The study was organized in three phases. Phase 1 used exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 138 young adults and supported a one-factor solution with strong loadings and high internal consistency. Phase 2 tested this structure in an independent sample of 182 young adults using confirmatory factor analysis, yielding generally supportive model fit and significant factor loadings for all items. Phase 3 examined external associations in a younger subsample of 100 participants. Higher BD-PES scores were associated with greater odds of reporting body-, eating-, or exercise-related discomfort or concern and persistent concerns during schooling, with each one-point increase corresponding to approximately 64% and 78% higher odds, respectively. BD-PES scores were not significantly associated with self-reported diagnosis of, or suspicion of having had, an eating disorder. These findings provide initial support for the BD-PES as a brief, coherent measure of perceived biomedical discourse in physical education and highlight the potential educational relevance of such perceptions.