This study will provide updated information on the feeding patterns of WIC infants, with expanded information on infant and toddler feeding behaviors. To address relative effectiveness in achieving appropriate feeding patterns and behaviors, the study will measure the different approaches to nutrition education and breastfeeding promotion and support services provided by WIC and other sources. The study will identify aspects of WIC nutrition education that could influence feeding practices to address the problem of high body weight among young children in WIC. The contract funds the design, sampling and data collection through 5 years of age.
Designed as an update to the 2003 Assessment of WIC Cost-Containment Practices, this study will incorporate changes to the WIC program that have occurred since then, including substantial revisions to food packages, expansion of EBT, and improvements in vendor management. The study will provide a census of the various cost-containment practices employed throughout State agencies, examine the impact of at least 6 cost-containment practices on WIC program goals, and ultimately develop at least 4 best practices in food package cost containment measures to be distributed to State agencies.
FNS awards WIC Special Project Grants to be used for "special State projects of regional or national significance to improve the services of the program." In order to meet the statutory objectives, Special Projects need to address issues of critical and timely importance to the WIC program.
The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (Section 232) requires a review of the WIC food package at least every ten years to ensure that it conforms to current nutrition science, public health concerns, and cultural eating patterns. This comprehensive scientific review updates and expands upon the 2006 IOM expert report “WIC Food Packages: Time for a Change.” FNS has again asked IOM to conduct a review of the WIC Food Packages. The primary aims of this review are to: 1) Review and assess the nutritional status and food and nutritional needs of the WIC-eligible population; 2) Provide specific, scientifically-based recommendations for the WIC food packages; and 3) Ensure that the recommendations would result in WIC Food Packages that: (a) are consistent with the most recently available edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), (b) address the health and cultural needs of the widely diverse WIC participant population, and (c) can operate efficiently and be effectively administered across the Nation.
The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (Section 232) requires a review of the WIC food package at least every ten years to ensure that it conforms to current nutrition science, public health concerns, and cultural eating patterns. This comprehensive scientific review updates and expands upon the 2006 IOM expert report “WIC Food Packages: Time for a Change.” FNS has again asked IOM to conduct a review of the WIC Food Packages. The primary aims of this review are to: 1) Review and assess the nutritional status and food and nutritional needs of the WIC-eligible population; 2) Provide specific, scientifically-based recommendations for the WIC food packages; and 3) Ensure that the recommendations would result in WIC Food Packages that: (a) are consistent with the most recently available edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), (b) address the health and cultural needs of the widely diverse WIC participant population, and (c) can operate efficiently and be effectively administered across the Nation.
The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (Section 232) requires a review of the WIC food package at least every ten years to ensure that it conforms to current nutrition science, public health concerns, and cultural eating patterns. This comprehensive scientific review updates and expands upon the 2006 IOM expert report “WIC Food Packages: Time for a Change.” FNS has again asked IOM to conduct a review of the WIC Food Packages. The primary aims of this review are to: 1) Review and assess the nutritional status and food and nutritional needs of the WIC-eligible population; 2) Provide specific, scientifically-based recommendations for the WIC food packages; and 3) Ensure that the recommendations would result in WIC Food Packages that: (a) are consistent with the most recently available edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), (b) address the health and cultural needs of the widely diverse WIC participant population, and (c) can operate efficiently and be effectively administered across the Nation.
The WIC Nutrition Education Study provides a nationally representative description of WIC nutrition education and includes a pilot of an impact study of WIC nutrition education on behavioral and physical activity outcomes in six sites. This two-phase study includes multiple modes of data collection from State agencies, local agencies, nutrition educators, and WIC participants. The multi-method approach includes the use of web surveys, paper-based surveys, telephone interviews, in-person focus groups and interviews, observations, and administrative data reviews to fully capture WIC nutrition education dosage, duration, and frequency of use by geographic distribution and local agency characteristics. Currently, the Phase I: Interim Report is under review and the study is collecting Phase II data.
This study is designed to provide information that will allow FNS to update WIC data reporting efforts in order to provide information to support more in-depth analyses of program management, program performance, program & participant characteristics, integrity and monitoring.
The USDA Center for Collaborative Research on WIC Nutrition Education Innovations, funded by USDA FNS supports researcher-initiated projects that demonstrate creative approaches to nutrition education for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The Center has awarded 4 subgrants. Grantees will present their findings at a grantee conference in July 2016. Descriptions of the grants awarded are available on the web at: https://www.bcm.edu/departments/pediatrics/sections-divisions-centers/childrens-nutrition-research-center/research/wic-nutrition-education.
The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is managing a small-grants research program, funded by USDA FNS. Through a competitive process, UCLA awarded seven grants in June 2012. The two-year projects to academic researchers, in partnership with WIC agencies, focus on the role that the WIC program is playing and can play in improving nutrition in pre-conceptional and periconceptional (between pregnancies) periods. FNS and UCLA anticipate that the grants will foster future collaboration and additional outside funding, along with findings that can inform WIC program development and nutrition education nationwide. Grantees presented their findings at a grantee conference in August 2015. Descriptions of the small grants awarded are available on the web at: https://www.fns.usda.gov/ops/role-wic-program-improving-peri-conceptional-nutrition-small-grants-program.
