The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children

What is it?

WIC works to mitigate nutritional risks for pregnant and postpartum individuals, infants, and children by providing:

  • nutrition education
  • access to healthy foods through vouchers and food packages
  • breastfeeding support
  • growth monitoring

What are the outcomes of the program?

  • increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy
  • encourages better infant feeding practices
  • WIC benefits are linked to the improvement of food insecurity among children
Figure showing how WIC packages impact the dietary intake of participants.

WIC eligibility does not cover the first 1000 days of an infant’s life. Instead after only one year, an infant’s eligibility has to be redetermined. To improve the policy eligibility should be extended to support mothers and their infants for this crucial period of development. To accommodate a larger number of women WIC benefits and resources should be available to all pregnant and postpartum individuals and their infants and distributed based on income level.

  1. Carlson, S., Neuberger, Z. (2021, January 27). WIC Works: Addressing the Nutrition and Health Needs of Low-Income Families for More Than Four Decades. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/wic-works-addressing-the-nutrition-and-health-needs-of-low-income-families
  2. Gitterman, B. A., Flanagan, P. J., Cotton, W. H., Dilley, K. J., Duffee, J. H., Green, A. E., Keane, V. A., Krugman, S. D., Linton, J. M., McKelvey, C. D., & Nelson, J. L. (2016, April 1). Poverty and Child Health in the United States. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/137/4/e20160339/81482/Poverty-and-Child-Health-in-the-United-States?autologincheck=redirected?nfToken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
  3. Owen, A. L., & Owen, G. M. (1997). Twenty years of WIC: a review of some effects of the program. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 97(7), 777–782. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-8223(97)00191-0