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This paper examines the problem of delivering a body of knowledge based on biomedical research as a school physical education discourse. The paper attempts to deconstruct the ideology of healthism upon which the discourse is based in order to show how ascetic practices in school physical education are promoted as a way of combating the hedonistic tendencies of modern lifestyles of the young. A critical examination is presented of the claims made by biomedicine in light of the paucity of evidence, the unresolved questions of individuality, the ineffective response to the consumer culture of modem youth, and the moral imperative that seem to be associated with the requirements for healthy living. The paper concludes that without reflection on what is being assumed in the recontexualization of biomedicine, a central tension will continue to exist between the dominant discourse of healthism and those it is attempting to influence. More specifically, the reduction of the disparity between healthism and the reality of consumer culture of modern youth must be achieved in order that the objectives of the discourse may be realized. Physical education teachers and biomedical experts will require a similar understanding of youth culture to those in the advertising industry if the values of physical activity are to be fully accepted.

Niche conservatism is the hypothesis that a species' niche remains stable in space and time. This concept is central to understanding phenomena ranging from the role of climate change impacts on species biogeography to community dynamics. Marine zooplankton have been used as indicators of global change in the ocean, and niche conservatism is usually assumed for these organisms due to their high dispersal capacity, which may limit the development of local adaptations. However, recent evidence suggests that several zooplankton species with a circumglobal distribution are comprised of several cryptic species complexes, but it is unknown if the niches of cryptic species complexes have remained conserved or if they have diverged. Habitat management based on niche modelling would be strengthened by better understanding patterns of niche conservation or divergence, as the usual assumption that species have fixed environmental niches may be misleading. We assess the niche differences for 15 copepod species with populations in the North Atlantic, Southern Ocean and Australia. Pairwise differences in the realised niches were computed for each species using two complementary analyses. Our analysis indicates that global‐scale niche modelling of zooplankton cannot assume niche conservatism across all lineages and future studies should look to incorporate phylogenetic information to improve future niche estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to up‐to‐date Australian disease prevalence estimates assists health services and consumer organisations to plan and allocate resources. The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study was conducted between 2006 and 2012 and provided chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (post‐bronchodilator airflow limitation) prevalence estimates weighted to the 2006 Australian census. Using the 2016 Australian census, an updated prevalence estimate of all COPD is 8.30% (95% confidence interval = 6.59%–10.01%) for adults aged 40 or more years in Australia and includes 2.52% with mild breathlessness, 0.99% with moderate breathlessness and 0.91% with severe breathlessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which measured chronic obstructive lung diseases (COPD) prevalence in people aged 40 or above in Australia. It states that spirometry was used to measure forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and the FEV1/FVC ratio. It notes that spirometric evidence and symptoms of the disease increase with age and were common in people 40 or above.

Objectives and background: Despite the lack of data, it is believed that spirometry is underutilized in general practice. The aim of the present study was to determine the availability of spirometry and the level of spirometry training in general practice throughout Australia and compare with international data. Methods: In total, 5976 general practices throughout Australia were sent a questionnaire requesting details of spirometer ownership, usage and the level and source of spirometry training. To exclude response bias, a follow-up telephone survey was conducted of 160 practices that did not respond to the initial survey. Results: Of practices 19.5% (1125) responded to the initial survey with 64.2% (722) of these owning a spirometer and 83.9% in the follow-up sample. Common reasons for not owning a spirometer were equipment cost (53.3%) and insufficient remuneration (32.8%). Most practices (67.0%) performed one or more tests per week. Practices commonly used spirometry to diagnose (89.5%) and manage (93.9%) asthma, assess breathlessness (83.4%) and to detect and manage other diseases such as COPD (77.7%). Spirometer accuracy was never checked using a syringe 77.8% of practices and 40% did not test a healthy subject as part of their quality assurance programme. Spirometry training was received most commonly through courses run by general practice organizations (38.2%), and the duration of training courses was <2 h in 40% of cases. Conclusion: Despite high spirometer ownership in general practice, the frequency of use is low. Low rates of verification of spirometer accuracy and performance suggest the need for reliable, stable spirometers to be available to general practitioners. Regular and more comprehensive training in spirometry is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: The naturally occurring age-dependent decline in lung function accelerates after menopause, likely due to the change of the endocrine balance. Although increasing evidence shows suboptimal lung health in early life can increase adult  susceptibility to insults, the potential effect of poor childhood lung function on menopause-dependent lung function decline has not yet been investigated.Objectives: To study whether menopause-dependent lung function decline, assessed as forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), is determined by childhood lung function.Methods: The Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study, a cohort born in 1961, underwent spirometry at age seven.  At ages 45 and 50 serum samples, spirometry and questionnaire data were collected (N = 506). We measured follicle stimulating and luteinizing hormones to determine menopausal status using latent profile analysis. The menopause-dependent lung function decline was investigated using linear mixed models, adjusted for anthropometrics, occupational level, smoking, asthma, asthma medication and study year, for the whole study population and stratified by tertiles of childhood lung function.Measurements and Main Results: The overall menopause-dependent lung function decline was 19.3 mL/y (95%CI 2.2 to 36.3) for FVC and 9.1 mL/y (-2.8 to 21.0) for FEV1. This was most pronounced (pinteraction=0.03) among women within the lowest tertile of childhood lung function [FVC 22.2 mL/y (1.1 to 43.4); FEV1 13.9 mL/y (-1.5 to 29.4)].Conclusions: Lung function declines especially rapidly in postmenopausal women who had poor low lung function in childhood. This provides novel insights into respiratory health during reproductive aging and emphasizes the need for holistic public health strategies covering the whole lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]