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 ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Introduction and Background2 The WIC Participant Experience3 Approach to the Task4 Nutrient Intakes of WIC-Eligible Populations5 Food Intake of WIC-Eligible Populations6 Nutrition-Related Health Risks in the WIC Population7 Promotion, Motivation, and Support of Breastfeeding with the WICFood Packages8 Meeting Diverse Dietary Needs and Preferences: Considerations forthe WIC Food Packages9 Background and Approach to Considering Food Package Options10 Food Expenditure Analysis11 Findings and ConclusionsAppendix A: Acronyms and AbbreviationsAppendix B: GlossaryAppendix C: Comparison of Institute of Medicine 2006Recommendations and Regulatory ImplementationAppendix D: Composition of the WIC Food PackagesAppendix E: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and NutritionService Funded Studies Describing the Effect of the 2009 WIC FoodPackage ChangesAppendix F: Changes in the WIC Food Packages and ProgramParticipation: MethodsAppendix G: Literature Findings on Barriers and Incentives to WICParticipation and RedemptionAppendix H: Workshop AgendasAppendix I: Evidence Review StrategyAppendix J: Dietary Reference Intake Values and Nutrients and FoodsAnalyzedAppendix K: Diet Quality IndexesAppendix L: Household Food Expenditure AnalysisAppendix M: Regulatory Impact Analysis ApproachAppendix N: Committee Perceptions of the WIC ExperienceAppendix O: Summary Results from the Diet Quality of American YoungChildren by WIC Participation StatusAppendix P: Nutrient Intake of WIC and WIC-Eligible PopulationsAppendix Q: Food Intake of WIC and WIC-Eligible PopulationsAppendix R: Summary of National Dataset Characteristics Applied inthe Evaluation of Health RisksAppendix S: Breastfeeding Literature FindingsAppendix T: Chronology of Statutes Pertaining to the Definition ofWIC Supplemental FoodsAppendix U: Committee Biosketches