Obesity, cancer & deprivation data mapping

Quantitative research

This new piece of quantitative research was a collaboration between Health Equalities Group and researchers from the Data Science Research Centre at Liverpool John Moores University. 

The main aim of the study was to identify and explore publicly available data for the Cheshire and Merseyside Region to provide insights into health inequalities within the region with a specific focus on social determinants of weight gain and other lifestyle risk factors, including but not limited to: healthy eating and physical activity, plus two cancers known to be impacted by obesity, namely, breast and bowel cancer.

The study was split into two parts: 

1) To map out and explore data on obesity available for Cheshire and Merseyside at specific geographical levels, and overlay this data with current data on cancer, with specific reference to breast and bowel cancer; 

2) To explore health inequalities in Cheshire and Merseyside using data identified from part one of the study to explore individual factors associated with obesity and cancer and their relationship with national averages; correlation between the conditions of interest in the study (obesity, cancer) and measures of deprivation; and finally, production of a multivariate Conditional Independence Map (CI-Map) that maps the full correlation structure of the primary variables under consideration.

Evaluation partner

This research is a collaboration between The Data Science Research Centre at Liverpool John Moores University and Health Equalities Group.

The Data Science Research Centre at Liverpool John Moores University undertakes research into a diverse range of subjects addressing real world problems in such areas as public health health, clinical decision support, human resources and business.