WIC provides supplemental food, nutrition education, and referrals to health care and other social services to low-income, nutritionally at-risk women, infants, and children up to 5 years of age. This report explains how WIC works, examines program trends, describes some of the lesser known effects of WIC, and discusses some of the major economic issues facing the program.
This is annual WIC program data on WIC participation from all 90 WIC state agencies, collected and compiled by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
This is WIC monthly program data on WIC participation by food package category and program costs, from all 90 WIC state agencies, collected and compiled by the USDA Food and […]
This is monthly WIC program data from all 90 WIC state agencies, collected and compiled by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
This is summarized WIC program data, collected and compiled by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
This report, the first of three, addresses the first objective of the study, which is to explore the characteristics and experiences of WIC participants. Contractor: ICF Macro This research was […]
This report uses data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to provide a comprehensive picture of the nutrient intakes, food choices, and diet quality of young children who […]
This biennial census provides detailed information on the demographic characteristics, economic circumstances and health conditions of WIC clients, along with information on the operational characteristics of State and local WIC agencies. The data are used for policy development, budget projections and regulatory impact analyses. Information about WIC participation characteristics has been prepared biennially since 1992 from administrative records provided by State agencies.
Approximately every ten years, FNS conducts a nationally-representative survey of the characteristics of WIC participants and State and local agencies. The NSWP Series provides USDA with national estimates of certification- related errors and improper payments for use in USDA’s required reporting under the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA). The NSWP series also collects information on State and local WIC Agencies’ certification-related policies and operations in order to better understand both the policies and their potential associations with error, provides statistical sample-based estimates of the size and characteristics of LWAs nationwide, and provides information from a nationally-representative sample of WIC participants about their experiences with the WIC program. The last study collected data in 2009 and was published in 2012. The next study in the series was awarded in September 2015. Data collection is anticipated to begin in 2017.
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.
