Geospatial Approach to Good Health and Well-Being Assessment in Nigeria: Achieving a Sustainable Healthy Living

Abstract

Healthy life is the focal point for a sustainable development and prosperous society. By implication this involves a state of well-being that is enjoyed by individual when the body systems are functioning effectively and efficiently together and in harmony with the environment in order to achieve the objectives of healthy living such as adequate sleep, regular physical activities, healthy eating, and so on. This study explores the technique of Geographic Information System by integrating it with statistics to assess the level of good health and well-being among Nigerians. The data used was obtained from the Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The hard-copy of the map of Nigeria acquired from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Ibadan was scanned into the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, geo-referenced and digitized using on-screen method with both National and States boundaries captured as polygon features. The good health and well-being indicators (Statistics) were then restructured in a GIS format and linked to the digitized boundaries as their attributes to produce health and well-being indices maps. The GIS software used is ArcGIS 10. The results of the study show significant variations in the health and well-being indices of the Nigerian populace spatially. It was therefore recommended that there is need for engaging geospatial technology in assessing the sustainable goal on good health and well-being for all ages. This will help in providing spatial information for better visual interpretations and quick decision-making.

Keywords: Well-being, Indicators, Geographic Information System (GIS), Sustainable healthy living