Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-7mr9c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-25T16:53:43.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - WIC Turns 35: Program Effectiveness and Future Directions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Barbara Devaney
Edited by
Arthur J. Reynolds ,
Arthur J. Rolnick ,
Michelle M. Englund  and
Judy A. Temple
Arthur J. Reynolds
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Arthur J. Rolnick
Affiliation:
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Michelle M. Englund
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Judy A. Temple
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Get access

Summary

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides supplemental foods, nutrition education, and social service and health care referrals to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women; infants; and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk. The WIC program is based on the premise that many low-income individuals are at risk of poor nutrition and health outcomes because of insufficient nutrition during the critical growth and development periods of pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood. It is a supplemental food and nutrition program to help meet the special needs of low-income women, infants, and children during these periods. WIC provides three main benefits to participants: (a) supplemental foods; (b) nutrition education, including breastfeeding promotion; and (c) referrals to health care and social service providers.

WIC began as a pilot program in 1972 and was authorized permanently in 1974 (P.L. 94–105). Since then, WIC has become a key component of the nutrition safety net provided for low-income Americans. Today, WIC functions as a vital link in America's public health efforts to ensure that all of the nation's children have the resources they need to thrive. About half of all U.S. infants and a quarter of all U.S. children ages 1 to 5 receive WIC benefits.

The WIC program has been the focus of numerous and varied evaluations. In general, these studies show WIC to be effective, although several methodological issues have been raised about the existing research.

Type
Chapter
Information
Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of Life
A Human Capital Integration
 , pp. 29 - 48
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ahluwalia, I. B., Hogan, V. K., Grummer-Strawn, L., Colville, W. R., & Peterson, A. (1998). The effect of WIC participation on small-for-gestational-age births: Michigan, 1992. American Journal of Public Health, 88(9), 1374–1377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
,American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Nutrition (2004). Pediatric nutrition handbook (5th ed.). Elk Grove, IL: Author.Google Scholar
Bartlett, S., Bobronnikov, E., Pacheco, N.. (2006, March). WIC participant and program characteristics 2004. Alexandria, VA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation.Google Scholar
Bitler, M., & Currie, J. (2005). Does WIC work? The effects of WIC on pregnancy and birth outcomes. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 24(1), 73–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Black, M. M., Cutts, D. B., Frank, D. A., Geppert, J., Skalicky, A., Levenson, S.. (2004). Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children participation and infants' growth and health: A multisite surveillance study. Pediatrics, 114, 169–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Briefel, R., Reidy, K., Karwe, V., & Devaney, B. (2004). Feeding infants and toddlers study: Improvements needed in meeting infant feeding recommendations. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 104(Suppl. 1), S31–S37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buescher, P., & Horton, S. (2000). Prenatal WIC participation in relation to low birth weight and Medicaid infant costs in North Carolina – a 1997 update. Raleigh, NC: Center for Health Information and Statistics, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Buescher, P. A., Horton, S. J., Devaney, B., Roholt, S. J., Lenihan, A. J., Whitmire, T. J., & Kotch, J. B. (2003). Child participation in WIC: Medicaid costs and use of health care services. American Journal of Public Health, 93(1), 145–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chatterji, P., Bonuck, K., Dhawan, S., & Deb, N. (2002). WIC participation and the initiation and duration of breast-feeding (Discussion Paper No. 1246-02). Madison, WI: Institute for Research on Poverty.Google Scholar
Devaney, B., Bilheimer, L., & Schore, J. (1992). Medicaid costs and birth outcomes: The effects of prenatal WIC participation and the use of prenatal care. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 11(4), 573–592.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edozien, J., Boyd, M. D., Switzer, B., & Bryan, R. (1979). Medical evaluation of the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 32, 677–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
,ExpectMore.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/summary/10003027.2006.html.
,Federal Register. (2007, December 6). Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Revisions in the WIC food packages; Interim Rule, vol. 72, No. 234, 68966–69032.Google Scholar
Fox, M. K., Hamilton, W., & Lin, B. (2004). Effects of food assistance and nutrition programs on nutrition and health: Vol. 3. Literature review (Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report No. 19-3). Washington, DC: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Gordon, A., & Nelson, L. (1995). Characteristics and outcomes of WIC participants and nonparticipants: Analysis of the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research.Google Scholar
,Institute of Medicine. (2006). WIC food packages: Time for a change. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Joyce, T., Racine, A., & Yunzal-Butler, C. (2007). Re-assessing the WIC effect: Evidence from the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Association for Public Policy and Management, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Kennedy, E., Gershoff, S., Reed, R., & Austin, J. (1982). Evaluation of the effect of WIC supplemental feeding on birthweight. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 80(3), 220–227.Google Scholar
Kotelchuck, M., Schwartz, J., Anderka, M., & Finison, K. (1984). WIC participation and pregnancy outcomes: Massachusetts statewide evaluation project. American Journal of Public Health, 74(10), 1086–1092.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazariu-Bauer, V., Stratton, H., Pruzek, R., & Woelfel, M. L. (2004). A comparative analysis of effects of early versus late prenatal WIC participation on birth weight: NYS, 1994. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 8(2), 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leonard, R. (1994). Recalling WIC program's humble beginnings. CNI Weekly Report, 24(15), 4–7.Google Scholar
Metcoff, J., Costiloe, P., Crosby, W., Dutta, S., Sandstead, H., Milne, D.. (1985). Effect of food supplementation (WIC) during pregnancy on birth weight. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 42(May), 933–947.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveira, V., Racine, E., Olmsted, J., & Ghelfi, L. M. (2002, September). The WIC program: Background, trends, and issues (Food Assistance and Nutrition Report No. 27). Washington, DC: Food and Rural Economic Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Rush, D., Leighton, J., Sloan, N. K., Alvir, J. M., & Garbowski, G. C. (1986). The National WIC Evaluation: An evaluation of the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (Vols. 1–3). Alexandria, VA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.Google Scholar
Schwartz, J. B., Guilkey, D. K., Akin, J. S., & Popkin, B. (1992). The WIC breastfeeding report: The relationship of WIC program participation to the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Alexandria, VA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.Google Scholar
,U.S. General Accounting Office. (1992, April). Early intervention: Federal investments like WIC can produce savings (GAO/HRD-92-18). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Yip, R., Binkin, N. J., Fleshood, L., & Trowbridge, F. L. (1987). Declining prevalence of anemia among low-income children in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 258(12), 1610–1623.Google ScholarPubMed
Yip, R., Parvana, I., Scanlon, K., Borland, E., Russell, C., & Trowbridge, F. (1992). Pediatric Surveillance System – United States 1980–1991. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: CDC Surveillance Summaries, 41(SS-7), 1–23.Google ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×