In 2017, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released comprehensive recommendations to update the food packages provided by the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to align with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). The recommendations were to decrease the amount of some foods currently offered by WIC (100% fruit or vegetable juice, milk, and legumes), add foods either not offered or offered in very small amounts relative to the DGAs (fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and canned fish), increase the WIC package flexibility, and ensure the food package is culturally appropriate. The proposed changes are cost-neutral, and will save approximately $220 million program-wide from 2018 to 2022. Researchers from the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) collaborated with the California Department of Public Health and Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC program to conduct a survey of nearly 3,000 California WIC participants with children aged 1-4 years in 2019 to understand if the recommended changes to the child food package were aligned with their preferences. Results from this collaborative study were published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. Survey results show that most families on WIC wanted an increase in the $9 cash value voucher (CVV) to purchase fruits and vegetables and a majority would be willing to receive more fruits and vegetables instead of juice. Most participants were interested in adding canned fish to their child's food package and were also satisfied with the amount of beans, peanut butter, and milk offered by WIC. The study was conducted by NPI-affiliated researcher Lauren Au of the University of California, Davis; NPI researchers Lorrene Ritchie, Marisa Tsai, and Hallie Randel-Schreiber; Catherine Martinez and Shannon Whaley of Public Health Foundation Enterprise WIC; and Patricia Gradziel and Susan Sabatier from the California Department of Public Health. The study was funded by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the California Department of Public Health WIC Division.
Nutrition Policy Institute's Lorrene Ritchie, director and University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) specialist, has been studying the diet quality of low-income children enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This research is part of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study (WIC ITFPS-2), also known as the "Feeding My Baby" study. Ritchie and her research colleagues Christine Borger of Westat, Inc., Courtney Paolicelli of the USDA Food and Nutrition Services, and Shannon Whaley of Public Health Foundation Enterprise WIC, presented the latest findings from children enrolled in WIC at age four years during the virtual National WIC Association Nutrition Education and Breastfeeding Promotion Annual Conference on September 10, 2020. Their presentation was titled, “Now we are four! Findings at age four from the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study (WIC ITFPS-2)."
The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides nutritious foods, information on healthy eating including breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care to over 6.3 million low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 in the US. Nutrition Policy Institute's (NPI) Lorrene Ritchie is the Co-Principal Investigator of the national WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 (ITFPS-2), which received additional funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in partnership with Westat, Inc. to extend data collection for children up to 9 years of age enrolled in the national WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 (ITFPS-2). Ritchie and her NPI research team will contribute to the investigation of dietary practices and the health and nutritional status of children in this cohort during their ninth year of life. This project builds off the WIC ITFPS-2 study funded by the USDA Food and Nutrition Services, which began in 2011. The study extension begins in October 2020 and continues for five years.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 (ITFPS-2) captures data on caregivers and their children over the first 6 years of the child's life after WIC enrollment to address a series of research questions regarding feeding practices, associations between WIC services and those practices, and the health and nutrition outcomes of children receiving WIC. The study, also known as the 'Feeding My Baby' study, previously produced four reports, the Intentions to Breastfeed Report, Infant Year Report, Second Year Report, and Third Year Report. The latest Fourth Year Report, which focuses on findings from children's fourth year of life, shows that consistent 4-year participation in WIC is associated with a higher quality diet among 4-year-old children. It also finds that caregivers who participate in WIC until their child is 4 years old truly value the education and support they receive through the program. In fact, the top reported reasons for continued participation are the education received from WIC (94 percent), the WIC food package (93 percent), and the perception that WIC personnel listen when participants talk about their child's health (91 percent). Findings from this new report also demonstrate how WIC nutrition education improves families' eating behaviors. Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) director Lorrene Ritchie and NPI affiliated researcher Lauren Au from the University of California, Davis are co-authors of the new report. The study was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and conducted in collaboration with researchers from Westat including Christine Borger, Thea Zimmerman, Tracy Vericker, Jill DeMatteis, and Laurie May, as well as Shannon Whaley from Public Health Foundation Enterprise (PHFE) WIC and Linnea Sallack from Altarum Institute. The full Fourth Year Report, along with a brief summary of the study's findings, is available online.
Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) director and cooperative extension specialist Lorrene Ritchie presented new information on the challenges faced by California families with young children that participate in the USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation, titled "WIC Participation: Why do Families Stay and What has Changed During COVID-19?" was part of the California WIC Association and California WIC program's annual conference and trade show, which was held virtually on Friday August 28, 2020. Ritchie co-presented with collaborators Susan Sabatier at the California Department of Public Health and Shannon Whaley at the Public Health Foundation Enterprise (PHFE) WIC. They shared data from three studies: a state wide survey of WIC participants completed in 2019 prior to the pandemic as well as preliminary data from interviews and surveys with WIC families in Los Angeles County being completed this year. Funding for NPI's work was provided by The David & Lucille Packard Foundation and the California Department of Public Health.
