The Women Infant and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program

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).

Furthermore, federal assistance is also a cause of hunger. According to a study from the nation’s largest food bank operator, the number of Americans in need of food aid has jumped 46 percent in the three years. A growing number of people have had to make difficult choices about what to spend their money on. “These are choices that no one should have to make, but particularly households with children” (Escarra). The government and the community can help in many ways. Insufficient nutrition has adverse effects on the physical, behavioral and mental health, and academic performance of

Events such as the Poor People’s March in Washington D.C., the airing of “Hunger in America” on CBS, and the National Nutrition Survey of 1967 all brought widespread attention to the issue of poverty, hungry, poor nutrition trends, and lack of healthy food resources for pregnant women, mothers, infants, and children in low income households and communities through heavy media coverage in the 1960s. With these issues heavily publicized by media outlets around the country, citizens now had a bird’s eye view of impoverished women and children with scarce options to effectively alleviate hunger in their households on a consistent basis, let alone have consistent access to healthy foods. Society often

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.

Many people do not realize that hunger and malnutrition is a problem that many Americans face on a daily basis. Maybe, we are failing to realize that our country is not perfect, but if we don’t try to do anything then more and more children will die. The problem with child hunger is that the United States may not face as dramatic problems with hunger as that of other countries, but

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federally funded public health nutrition program that provides various services to income-eligible women, breast feeding or postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 years old. The WIC program provides nutritional education and counseling, nutritious foods, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals if applicable to applicants. This program has been effective in the reduced rate of premature births, low birth weight babies, fetal and infant deaths, incidence of low iron (anemia), improved diet quality, increased immunization rates, increased consumption of key nutrients by pregnant women, and an increase access to earlier prenatal care.

A balanced nutrition for the first 3 years of a child’s life is extremely important to stabilize their mental and physical health in the future. Starvation is a common problem with poor families. It currently affects 49.1 million families in the United States. Undernutrition is the start to many diseases such as measles and malaria. If the children get these diseases, it is very likely that they don’t have health insurance to cover their illnesses and injuries. 15.8 million children have families who are not consistently stable to feed them. Food pantries are crowded and jam packed with people, that they don’t have enough food for all. The majority of canned foods and other donations are donated during Christmas or Thanksgiving when the food pantries need it the most. Nobody realizes that they need food all throughout the year. Food is the main component to fuel the body to grow and move. Poverty doesn’t just hurt a child physically through starvation, moreover mentally through learning

The bill Early Childhood Nutrition Improvement Act was introduced to the house on March 2, 2017 by Representative Suzanna Bonamici from the state of Oregon. This bill is part of a larger legislation called the Child Nutrition Reauthorization, which is trying to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act signed in 1946 and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. These two child nutrition laws are believed to be outdated, thus the need to introduce different bills which will amend target areas of need. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization includes to improve the 6 main child nutrition programs which are- School Meals, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Farm to School, Child and Adult Care Food

WIC provides nutritious supplemental foods, health care referrals, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support for these clients (WIC, 2015).

In regards to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the purpose of the organization could be described as insuring that eligible, low-income individuals and families have access to nutritional and economic benefits. According to the United Stated Department of Agriculture, SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net (USDA, 2016). The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) assists state agencies, nutrition educators, neighborhood, and faith-based organizations to ensure that those deemed eligible for nutritional assistance are able to make informed decisions in regards to applying for the program and are able to access benefits. The FNS also works with state partners and the retail community

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federally funded program that allows low income individuals/families to purchase healthy foods when their food budget does not allow it. In California SNAP is known as CalFresh. This program is overseen by The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) -Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). Stakeholders of SNAP are farmers/producers, grocers, hunger, poverty and public health advocates, Departments of Health or Social Services (state), SNAP offices (local), and participants with gross income below 130% of poverty.1,2

In the United States, there is a significant number of women and children that live below the federal poverty line and many still live below twice the poverty line (Jackson, 2014). According to the United States Census Bureau (2016), to be considered in poverty, individuals or families meet certain income thresholds based on family size and composition. Based on these thresholds, people in poverty are at the minimum level of income deemed adequate to provide the basic necessities in life. With poverty often comes food insecurity which can lead to a variety of negative effects such as health concerns, increased health care costs, and emotional and social issues (Jackson, 2014; Henchy, Weill, & Parker, 1999). There are a range of nutritional policies in place that help women and children who live in poverty and food-insecure households, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (Jackson, 2014; Marx, Broussard, Hopper, & Worster, 2010). This paper provides a basic policy analysis of the WIC program.

1. Migrant and seasonal farm workers may have the poorest health of any aggregate in the United States and the least access to affordable healthcare (Nies, 2011). In Indiana, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to low and no income people and families living in the United States (U.S.). It is a federal aid program administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), however, distribution of benefits occurs at the state level. In Indiana, the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) is responsible for ensuring federal regulations are initially implemented and consistently applied in each county. People can apply for this assistance at their local Division of Family Resources. There are also many places that participate in the emergency food assistance program (TEFAP) and food pantries. In Lake County, Indiana, the largest food pantry is the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, which is a TEFAP participant and also a soup kitchen. They are open Monday through Friday during the day. There are also food pantries in trustee offices and churches, but some of them are by referral only. In some cases, the community health nurse can make a referral (in.gov, 2014).

Research shows that the WIC Program has been playing an important role in improving high birth outcomes and containing health care cost. WIC improves the health of nutritionally at risk women, infants, and children. Since its beginning in 1974, the WIC Program has earned the reputation of being one of the most successful federally- funded nutrition programs in the United States. Children enrolled in WIC are more likely to have a regular source of medical care and have more up to date immunizations. WIC helps get children ready for school. Children who receive WIC benefits, demonstrate improved intellectual

At my current position as a WIC Nutritionist at SBH Health System, I provided counseling to participant based on nutritional assessment, which include high risk participants and determine their needs. I provided lactation counseling, help new mothers to avoid or overcome common breastfeeding problems. My goal is to counsel mothers and promote educational information led to increase breastfeeding rate and avoid nutritional risks at developmental stage in infant. If NHCAC WIC Program seeks a WIC Nutritionist, I am the right fit for the