Food Purchasing Behaviors of WIC Participants: What Non-WIC Eligible Foods Items Are Being Purchased

To describe items purchased during a shopping trip by families enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Cross-sectional, quantitative, observational study.

Grocery stores in the Newark, Delaware area.

A convenience sample of mothers (n = 35) were recruited from a local WIC Clinic waiting room.

The number of items categorized into 12 food groups, (baby food, beverages, dairy, fats/oils, fruit, vegetables, grains, protein, preprepared, seasonings, sweets, and other) extracted from grocery receipts.

Means and frequencies were used to analyze continuous and categorical data, respectively, for receipt data and demographics.

The most common foods purchased not included as part of the WIC food package included protein (1.0 [standard deviation, SD 3.0]), preprepared foods (0.9 [SD 2.0]), and other foods (1.0 [SD 1.9]). The most frequent foods purchased included as part of the WIC food package included fruit (2.3 [SD 1.5]), grains (1.7 [SD 1.6]), and dairy (1.5 [SD 0.8]).

Further investigation of foods purchased that were not part of the WIC food package is warranted, as understanding food purchases particularly among low-income mothers may inform nutrition education practices.