Innovative WIC Practices: Profiles of 20 Programs

By Anne Gordon, Heather Hartline-Grafton, and Renée Nogales. ERS project representative: Victor Oliveira

E-FAN No. (EFAN04007) 274 pp, June 2004

WIC provides supplemental food, nutrition education, and social service referrals to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children younger than age 5. WIC has come under increased scrutiny as it has expanded rapidly, and some have suggested new directions for the program. This study examines a range of innovative practices at 20 State or local WIC agencies. The study focuses on practices in three main areas: breastfeeding promotion and support (including peer counseling and programs for high-risk groups), nutrition and health education (including obesity prevention, preventive health care, and staff training), and service delivery (such as home and workplace visits). For each innovative program, the report provides background information and discusses the source of the innovation, key challenges, implementation lessons learned, evidence of its success, and the feasibility of replicating the practice.

Keywords: WIC program, innovative practices, program operations, child nutrition, nutrition education, food assistance, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, FANRP, ERS, USDA

In this report ...

Chapters are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

• Abstract, Acknowledgments, Contents, Executive Summary, 206 kb
• Introduction, 102 kb
• Breast-Feeding Support Programs, 405 kb
• Enhancing Nutrition Education, 385 kb
• Innovations in Service Delivery, 147 kb
• Conclusions, 139 kb
• References, 32 kb
• Appendix A, 97 kb
• Appendix B, 79 kb

• Entire Document, 1,489 kb

Updated date: June 8, 2004