The WIC Program: Background, Trends, and Economic Issues, 2009 Edition
By Victor Oliveira and Elizabeth Frazão
Economic Research Report No. (ERR-73) 90 pp,
April 2009
The mission of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children through age 4 who are at nutritional risk. WIC provides nutritious foods to supplement diets, nutrition education, and referrals to health care and other social services. Administered by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), almost half of all infants and about a quarter of all children ages 1-4 in the United States participate
in the program. WIC is USDA’s third-largest food and nutrition assistance program, accounting for 10 percent of total Federal spending on food and nutrition assistance. This report describes the WIC program—how it works, its history, program trends, and the characteristics of the population it serves. It also examines current issues facing WIC, focusing mainly on those with important economic implications.
Keywords: Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, WIC, administrative-based issues, outcome-based issues, ERS, USDA
In this report ... Chapters are
in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
- Abstract, Contents, and Summary,189 kb.
- Introduction, 109 kb.
- Overview of the WIC Program, 147 kb.
- Legislative and Regulatory History of the WIC Program, 77 kb.
- Program Trends, 415 kb.
- Characteristics of WIC Participants, 249 kb.
- Administrative-Based Issues in WIC, 647 kb.
- Outcome-Based Issues in WIC, 284 kb.
- Future Research Directions, 48 kb.
- References, 61 kb.
- Appendix: Methodology for Estimating WIC Participants as a Percent of U.S. Population Subgroups, 49 kb.
Charts and graphs (in .png format) from this report are available in the .zip file listed below. The .zip file also contains a document (readme.txt) that lists the name and title of each chart or graph file.
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Updated date: April 16, 2009
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