Government Accountability Office examines the extent that WIC agencies have restricted the use of non-contract standard formula to lower the cost of the WIC Program.
This study aimed to understand factors associated with a mother's decision to ask for infant formula in the hospital. Mothers reported the following: inadequate preparation for newborn care, lack of breastfeeding preparation, and the perception that giving their infant a formula would overcome the obstacles to breastfeeding.
This report focused on the impact of infant formula marketing on breastfeeding rates of WIC and non-WIC women, as well as the Government Accountability Office ;s recommendation to protect against inappropriate infant formula advertisements.
The researchers examines cost-containment practices in six states, including interviews with the various stakeholders and analysis of WIC administrative data. The authors reached three major conclusions: (1) Cost-containment practices reduced average food package costs by 0.2% to 21.4%, depending on practices implemented and local conditions; (2) the cost-containment practices had few adverse outcomes for WIC participants; and (3) administrative costs of the practices were low, averaging about 1.5% of food package savings.
The objective of this study was to identify the unintended consequences of the WIC formula rebate on the proportion of mothers who breastfed their babies. The results showed that the high and increasing cost of the formula might perpetuate the idea that WICs formula packages are of greater value than the breastfeeding packages that WIC offers.
This report describes infant deaths among Mississippi residents during 2013.
This report describes infant deaths among Mississippi residents during 2014.
In this webinar, Hope Wills provided an overview of marketing strategies used by formula companies to engage families and health care providers. Presenter: Hope Wills, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Rebates from infant formula manufacturers to State agencies that administer the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) support over one-quarter of all WIC participants. However, concerns have been raised that WIC and its infant formula rebate program may significantly affect the infant formula prices faced by non-WIC consumers. This report presents findings from the most comprehensive national study of infant formula prices at the retail level. For a given set of wholesale prices, WIC and its infant formula rebate program resulted in modest increases in the supermarket price of infant formula, especially in States with a high percentage of WIC formula-fed infants. However, lower-priced infant formulas are available to non-WIC consumers in most areas of the country, and the number of these lower priced alternatives is increasing over time.
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.
