The Pros And Cons Of WIC

47. The WIC program is a nutritional education component that takes care of people who can’t take care of themselves.

The Center for Human Development, Inc. in La Grande, Oregon, the location which serves as the WIC office for Union County, has set out to rectify this issue. There have been many questions asked when considering the downward trend of WIC participation for those eligible. Union County WIC coordinators decided that researching this issue might help answer some of these questions, as well as present ideas that might be useful for the future. The questions asked by the Union County WIC coordinators were written down by a public health intern and then formatted into a questionnaire that could be passed out to other WIC clinics throughout the state. The questionnaire was intended to assess other WIC clinics to see how they operate, as well as learn information about the different aspects of their practices that might help the Union County WIC increase utilization and maintenance.

They advocate for the 8 million+ mothers and young children served by WIC and the 12,000 WIC agencies who facilitate WIC’s public health nutrition services for all the at-risk poverty stricken mothers and young children. Their mission statement, similar to WIC’s, is “to inspire and empower the WIC community to advocate for and promote quality nutrition services for all eligible mothers and young children and assure effective management of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children

Currently, Community Prevention Partnership of Berks County, Nurse Family Partnership, home visitation Program, provides services to first time low income expectant mothers. The organization has been delivering the program for many years. Successfully, the program serves 250 families. The Berks county, Nurse Family Partnership program has served 1600 first time poor mothers, and 1250 children since it began. Most NFP clients by the time of referral are 18 years of age. Accordingly, the thirty-one percent of this first-time mothers receives Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and about fifty five percent are receiving Medicaid assistance. In fact, the household income average is 16, 000 and fifty two percent of mothers have not obtained a high school or GED diploma. Indeed, NFP outcomes involves maternal and child’s development education, referral and follow ups. Also, the program encourages breastfeeding, immunization updates developmental screenings. It has reduced smoking during pregnancy by 16.9% as well as prematurity rate by 4.5 %. (Michalopoulos, Lee, Duggan, Lundquist, Tso, Crowne, Burrell, Somers, Filene, & Knox, 2015).

During face to face interviews with WIC employees in the state of Mississippi, there seems to be a consensus. Many mothers will faithfully pick up food packages until the child no longer needs formula. One of the biggest complaints seems to be the recertification process. Three months later the parent has to take another day off work if employed to return to the clinic for a 10-minute nutrition education class to remain eligible to participate in the program. During face to face interviews with nutritional staff person discussed that there are income guide lines as well as there have to be risk factors in place for a recipient to qualify for WIC. Children can participate until their fifth birthday month, but many will not because the parents

also known as WIC supplies almost fifty percent of the infant formula used in the US at no

The purpose of the WIC Program is to provide food assistance each month to the participants that are eligible. It helps pregnant women, new mothers, and young children eat well and stay healthy. WIC is also a short-term intervention program designed to influence lifetime nutrition and health behaviors in a targeted, high-risk population.

Native Americans have the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Native Americans are 60% more likely to be obese and are over twice as likely to have diabetes than the general population. These numbers are even higher for Southwest Native Americans. But their diet is very similar to the rest of modern society. So why do Native Americans suffer these conditions at higher rates than the general population? The answer may be found in new research that is beginning to point to a genetic cause for these conditions. In a study by Peggy Halpern, Ph.D. for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she found that historically Native Americans of the

The Cherokee nation of Oklahoma is one of the many native Indian tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts in improving the health system in the Cherokee nation as well as the health of its individuals. For a long time, the Cherokee nation has engaged in successful health care experiences such as building health centers, launching health programs or even individually engaging in the health field to improve the overall healthcare in the nation.

Native Americans’ bodies could not handle the extra fat and sugar in their diet. This, coupled with a decrease in intense exercise, increased obesity and brought on the rise of diabetes. The sudden lack of exercise resulted in a significant weight increase in the Native American community. Indians were used to roaming the countryside. They had to follow the buffalo or move to warmer weather. Now, they were put into permanent homes and bought their food. This created an overweight, obese group of people. Studies estimated that the overall occurrence of obesity among Native Americans was 13.7 percent for men and 16.5 percent for women. These are higher than the United States’ rates of 9.1 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. It is reported that the United States spends $93 billion a year on preventable obesity- related illnesses and diseases.

There were some limitations to the research on this topic; a great deal of the information seemed to be a replication of other studies. The research showed a lot of reasons why people were not enrolling; however, the study claims that WIC works with little to no comparative data to differentiate participants from nonparticipants. There are some ongoing research efforts to come up with the answer on how to increase WIC enrollment.

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CN) is one of the many Native American tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts and investments in improving the health care system in the Cherokee Nation. Through the building of health care centers, launching health programs, and individually engaged tribal members in the health field, the Cherokee Nation is striving to improve the overall health care of their people.

WIC had been around since the 70’s and even then was very much about the health of mothers and their children. “1972: WIC was piloted as a supplemental food program aimed at improving the health of pregnant mothers, infants and children in response to growing concern over malnutrition among many poverty-stricken mothers and young children.” (WIC Program Overview and History | National WIC Association). The US Department of Agriculture is in charge of WIC, “WIC is a public health nutrition program under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture”. (WIC Program Overview and History | National WIC Association). The United States Department of Agriculture also funds WIC.WIC was created because of poverty and how families were living. People were starving and couldn’t afford to get food. “WIC was created in 1974 as a response to the realization that hunger and poverty were widespread in this country and that inadequate nutrition poses real dangers to pregnant women, new mothers, infants and children.” (WIC (Women, Infants and Children) « Food

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutritional Services is a federal program that provides health care and proper nutrition to low income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women during a crucial time for both mothers and babies. The mission of WIC is to “safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.” (Food and Nutrition Service, 2010).

included. Third, mothers with multiple births were included as a single observation. Fourth, only mothers whose survey child is 18 months of age or less at the time of assessment were included. They excluded mothers of infants older than 18 months because they could not confirm their prenatal WIC participation status due to the structure of the survey. Fifth, only observations with complete information for all relevant variables were included. Sixth, only mothers who are