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The Wic Program: Background, Trends, And Issues

Author

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  • Oliveira, Victor
  • Racine, Elizabeth
  • Olmsted, Jennifer
  • Ghelfi, Linda M.

Abstract

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 up to age 5 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), the program has grown rapidly since its establishment in 1972, and is now one of the central components of the Nation's food and nutrition assistance system. Almost half of all infants and about one-quarter of all children 1-4 years of age in the United States now participate in the program. Federal program costs were almost $4 billion in fiscal 2000, making WIC the country's third-largest food assistance program in terms of total expenditures. WIC accounts for almost 12 percent of total Federal expenditures for food and nutrition assistance. This report presents comprehensive background information on the WIC program-how it works, its history, program trends, and the characteristics of the population it serves. It also examines issues related to program outcomes and administration. How the WIC community responds to these issues may have a large impact on future program operations.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliveira, Victor & Racine, Elizabeth & Olmsted, Jennifer & Ghelfi, Linda M., 2002. "The Wic Program: Background, Trends, And Issues," Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Reports 33847, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersfa:33847
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.33847
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Oliveira, Victor & Frazao, Elizabeth, 2015. "The WIC Program: Background, Trends, and Economic Issues, 2015 Edition," Economic Information Bulletin 197543, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Laura Castner & James Mabli & Julie Sykes, "undated". "Dynamics of WIC Program Participation by Infants and Children, 2001 to 2003," Mathematica Policy Research Reports eec4a8a8233d4b5b9e4cf6c0e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    3. Jiang, Miao & Foster, E. Michael & Gibson-Davis, Christina M., 2010. "The effect of WIC on breastfeeding: A new look at an established relationship," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 264-273, February.
    4. Leschewski, Andrea & Weatherspoon, Dave D. & Kuhns, Annemarie, 2016. "A Segmented Hedonic Analysis of the Nutritional Composition of Fruit Beverages," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 19(3), pages 1-22, August.
    5. Erik Johnston & Yushim Kim & Mitali Ayyangar, 2007. "Intending the Unintended: The act of building agent-based models as a regular source of knowledge generation," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 5(2), pages 81-91.
    6. Hoynes, Hilary & Page, Marianne & Stevens, Ann Huff, 2011. "Can targeted transfers improve birth outcomes?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 813-827.
    7. Reilly, Siobhan & Evenhouse, Eirik, 2005. "Improved estimates of the benefits of breastfeeding using sibling comparisons to reduce selection bias," MPRA Paper 13434, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Oliveira, Victor & Davis, David, 2015. "Manufacturers’ Bids for WIC Infant Formula Rebate Contracts, 2003-2013," Economic Information Bulletin 206808, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Douglas Almond & Hilary W. Hoynes & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2011. "Inside the War on Poverty: The Impact of Food Stamps on Birth Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 387-403, May.
    10. Evan D. Peet & Dana Schultz & Susan Lovejoy & Fuchiang (Rich) Tsui, 2023. "Variation in the infant health effects of the women, infants, and children program by predicted risk using novel machine learning methods," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 194-217, January.
    11. Saitone, Tina L. & Sexton, Richard J. & Volpe, Richard J., III, 2012. "Markups and Promotional Patterns of California WIC-Authorized Foods," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124927, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. repec:mpr:mprres:6256 is not listed on IDEAS

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