Review of WIC Food Packages

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) began 40 years ago as a pilot program and has since grown to serve over 8 million pregnant women, and mothers of and their infants and young children. Today the program serves more than a quarter of the pregnant women and half of the infants in the United States, at an annual cost of about $6.2 billion. Through its contribution to the nutritional needs of pregnant, breastfeeding, and post-partum women; infants; and children under 5 years of age; this federally supported nutrition assistance program is integral to meeting national nutrition policy goals for a significant portion of the U.S. population.

To assure the continued success of the WIC, Congress mandated that the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reevaluate the program's food packages every 10 years. In 2014, the USDA asked the Institute of Medicine to undertake this reevaluation to ensure continued alignment with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This, the second report of this series, provides a summary of the work of phase I of the study, and serves as the analytical underpinning for phase II in which the committee will report its final conclusions and recommendations.

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• Summary
• 1 Introduction and Background
• 2 The WIC Participant Experience
• 3 Approach to the Task
• 4 Nutrient Intakes of WIC-Eligible Populations
• 5 Food Intake of WIC-Eligible Populations
• 6 Nutrition-Related Health Risks in the WIC Population
• 7 Promotion, Motivation, and Support of Breastfeeding with the WIC Food Packages
• 8 Meeting Diverse Dietary Needs and Preferences: Considerations for the WIC Food Packages
• 9 Background and Approach to Considering Food Package Options
• 10 Food Expenditure Analysis
• 11 Findings and Conclusions
• Appendix A: Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Comparison of Institute of Medicine 2006 Recommendations and Regulatory Implementation
• Appendix D: Composition of the WIC Food Packages
• Appendix E: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service Funded Studies Describing the Effect of the 2009 WIC Food Package Changes
• Appendix F: Changes in the WIC Food Packages and Program Participation: Methods
• Appendix G: Literature Findings on Barriers and Incentives to WIC Participation and Redemption
• Appendix H: Workshop Agendas
• Appendix I: Evidence Review Strategy
• Appendix J: Dietary Reference Intake Values and Nutrients and Foods Analyzed
• Appendix K: Diet Quality Indexes
• Appendix L: Household Food Expenditure Analysis
• Appendix M: Regulatory Impact Analysis...read more...