Proposed Criteria for Selecting the WIC Food Packages A Preliminary Report of the Committee to Review the WIC Food Packages (2004) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction and Background
1 Introduction and Background
Pages 9-20
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It reviews the nutritional needs and assesses the dietary adequacy of the WIC target population and proposes priority nutrients and food groups and general nutrition recommendations for the WIC food packages. This chapter reviews the reasons why a systematic evaluation and revision of the food packages is timely.
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that can be exchanged for specific foods in participating grocery outlets.5 This food instrument lists the quantities of food items, sometimes including brand names, that can be obtained. WIC food packages provide tailored selections of foods from the following list: iron-fortified infant formulas, milk, cheese, eggs, iron-fortified breakfast cereals (hot or cold)
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. For all categories, the WIC food packages provide more than 100 percent of recommended servings 6 Another statement of the definition of supplemental foods is written as "foods containing nutrients determined by nutritional research to be lacking in the diets of pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children" [U.S.
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THE WIC POPULATION HAS CHANGED SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE WIC PROGRAM Over the past several decades, the WIC program has expanded considerably and the population the program serves has changed in important ways. The WIC program has been one of the fastest growing food and nutrition assistance programs (see Figure 1-1)
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FIGURE 1-2 The WIC Population by Participant Category, 2002 SOURCE: Bartlett et al., 2003; FNS, 2004d (USDA website)
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. THE FOOD SUPPLY AND DIETARY PATTERNS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE WIC PROGRAM Increased Variety in the Food Supply The number of food products in U.S.
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. Further, there is evidence that the Medicaid-enrolled children who participate in the WIC program have greater use of all health services, including preventive services and effective care of common illnesses, than the Medicaid-enrolled children who are not WIC participants (Buescher et al., 2003)
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The negative health effects and economic costs associated with excess body fat and physical inactivity are second only to smoking, and likely to overtake tobacco as the leading cause of death from modifiable behavioral factors in the near future (Mokdad et al., 2004)
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The original selection of foods for the WIC food packages was based on food consumption data that indicated that calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C were the nutrients most likely to be low in the diets of low-income women and young children. Understanding of the necessity for adequate high-quality protein in periods of rapid growth and development provided the basis for inclusion of protein as a priority nutrient.
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Recommendations are to be cost-neutral, efficient for nationwide distribution and vendor checkout, non-burdensome to administration, and culturally suitable. The committee will also consider the supplemental nature of the WIC program, burdens/incentives for eligible families, and the role of WIC food packages in reinforcing nutrition education, breastfeeding, and chronic disease prevention.
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The proposed criteria and a general description of the process to be used in selecting the WIC food packages during Phase II of the project are also presented.
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