Geographic Characterisation of Children's Health and Wellbeing through Vulnerability Indices Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-Means Clustering

Harriette Phillips; Aiden Price; Kerrie Mengersen

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arXiv · 2509.14236

Geographic Characterisation of Children's Health and Wellbeing through Vulnerability Indices Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-Means Clustering

Harriette Phillips·Aiden Price·Kerrie Mengersen

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Abstract

Using Australian children as a case study, this paper aims to develop vulnerability indices to characterise the health and well-being of children aged 0-5 years old. The indices are used to identify differences in children's health and well-being across geographic regions and identify clusters of regions with similar characteristics. The approach is underpinned by two well-known statistical methods, namely Principal Component Analysis and K-Means Clustering. The identification of these regions with similar vulnerability characteristics can then be used to derive new insights into drivers of children's health and well-being and support improved decision-making for services in Australia.

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Harriette Phillips, Aiden Price, Kerrie Mengersen. 2025-08-09. Geographic Characterisation of Children's Health and Wellbeing through Vulnerability Indices Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-Means Clustering. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14236

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