Constructing the 'healthy' student : a narrative review of the re-legitimisation of the biomedical discourse in physical education

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Saiz-González, Pablo and Kirk, David (2025) Constructing the 'healthy' student : a narrative review of the re-legitimisation of the biomedical discourse in physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy. ISSN 1740-8989 (https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2025.2603976)

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Abstract

Background: In recent years, health has re-emerged as a central justification for physical education, a shift reinforced by global curriculum frameworks and public health agendas. Across varied contexts, physical education is increasingly framed as a strategic response to global health concerns such as obesity, sedentary behaviour and mental illness. While several studies have explored how biomedical discourses manifest – even when not explicitly named – in policy, curricula, teacher education or practice, these contributions remain fragmented and often limited to specific national contexts. Purpose: This study aimed to critically examine how the biomedical discourse is articulated, reproduced and legitimised in recent research on school-based physical education and physical education teacher education (PETE). Specifically, it sought to identify the underlying logic of this discourse and map its main consequences. Method: A narrative review methodology was employed. Searches were conducted across three academic databases: Web of Science, Scopus and ERIC. A total of 42 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and March 2025 were included. Relevant data were extracted from each study’s results, discussion and conclusion sections, and organised into thematic categories. These categories informed the analytical structure of the findings. The analysis also focused on the discursive logic shaping representations of health, the body, socialisation and physical education. Findings: The review identified an underlying logic that presents health as measurable, binary, and individually attainable through bodily optimisation. This framing encourages the regulation of students’ bodies, promotes visible effort as commitment to health, and assigns moral responsibility to individuals for improving their physical activity levels and biomedical indicators. As a result, hierarchies based on motor competence are reinforced, and lean, athletic, and physically able bodies are elevated as normative ideals. Six consequences were identified: (1) the medicalisation of physical education, (2) the spread of healthism, (3) the normalisation and surveillance of bodies, (4) student hierarchies based on fitness standards, (5) the prioritisation of physical activity quantity over learning, and (6) the reinforcement of hegemonic masculinity. Remarkably, some studies also highlighted moments of ambivalence or resistance to these discourses, suggesting that the biomedical dominance is never total. Impact Statement: This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how the biomedical discourse could be shaping the aims, practices and power relations of physical education. It offers a basis for reflecting on what legitimises pedagogical decisions in the subject today and whether its growing alignment with public health agendas risks displacing the educational role of physical education.

ORCID iDs

Saiz-González, Pablo and Kirk, David ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9884-9106;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)