The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published the “Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2: Fifth Year Report”. The WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 (WIC ITFPS-2), also known as the “Feeding My Baby” Study, is the only national study to capture data on caregivers and their children over the first 5 years of the child's life after enrollment in WIC, regardless of their continued participation in the program. The study also conducts additional follow-ups with children at ages 6 and 9. There were several key findings from the study. Families who remain in WIC during children's fifth year of life report continued participation because of the food they receive, the education and information they receive, and that WIC staff listen to their thoughts about their child's health. Children who consistently participate in WIC through their fifth year of life have better overall diet quality, on average, than children who only participated in their second and third years of life. When compared to children not receiving WIC or SNAP, children participating in WIC but not SNAP at age 54 months are more likely to meet recommendations for limiting added sugar intake. The study was conducted by Christine Borger, Thea Zimmerman, Jill DeMatteis, and Bibi Gollapudi, and Laurie May from Westat, Shannon Whaley from Public Health Foundation Enterprises-WIC, Lorrene Ritchie from the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute, and Lauren Au from UC Davis. The study was conducted under Contract AG-3198-B-11-0020, Order Number AG-3198-K-15-0050, supported by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.

A recent National WIC Association report, Multi-State WIC Participant Satisfaction Survey: Cash Value Benefit Increase During COVID, shows an increase in child fruit and vegetable consumption among participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) after the WIC Cash Value Benefit (CVB) for fruits and vegetables was enhanced through the American Rescue Plan Act in summer 2021. The report analyzes over 10,000 responses from WIC participants across 5 State WIC Agencies–Connecticut, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Mexico–in 2021. Researchers found that when the monthly CVB for children was increased from $9 to $35, children's total daily fruit and vegetable intake increased by approximately 1/3 cup. The study also showed that WIC participants prefer a CVB amount higher than $9 and closer to $35 per month to cover the fruit and vegetable needs of their child. The study was conducted by researchers at the UC Nutrition Policy Institute including Lorrene Ritchie, Danielle Lee, and Celeste Felix, in partnership with private consultant Linnea Sallack, Georgia Machell and Christina Chauvenet from the National WIC Association, and Shannon Whaley from Public Health Foundation Enterprise-WIC. The study was funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the From Now On Fund, the National WIC Association, and the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The National WIC Association, alongside researchers from the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute and Pepperdine University, released a new report that reveals high levels of satisfaction among participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) with adjustments made to program services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report includes results from a multistate survey conducted in spring 2021 of over 26,000 WIC participants across 12 State WIC Agencies including Colorado, Connecticut, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. This report complements and informs ongoing efforts to modernize WIC services to meet the needs of over 6.2 million WIC participants. Report authors include Lorrene Ritchie, Danielle Lee, and Lanxin Song from the UC Nutrition Policy Institute, independent consultant Linnea Sallack, Christina Chauvenet and Georgia Machell from the National WIC Association, Loan Kim from Pepperdine University, and Shannon E. Whaley from Public Health Foundation Enterprise-WIC. The report was funded by the National WIC Association, UC ANR, and The David and Lucille Packard Foundation.

The USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) is an evidence-based program that helps low-income individuals live healthier lives through education, social marketing, and policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. Known as CalFresh Healthy Living (CFHL) in California, SNAP-Ed is overseen by the California Department of Social Services and implemented by four state implementing agencies and the local implementing agencies (LIAs) that they fund. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is one of four state implementing agencies and funds 60 local health departments. Beginning in 2018, California's LIAs use the Program Evaluation and Reporting System (PEARS) to report their CFHL activities and interventions. The Nutrition Policy Institute serves as CDPH's evaluation contractor for its CFHL program; NPI's PEARS team, Carolyn Rider, Janice Kao, Evan Talmage, and Christina Becker, provide technical and evaluation assistance to CDPH and its LIAs for PEARS reporting. They authored a  new report which presents the background, definitions, and methods used by CDPH and its funded local health departments for reporting CFHL interventions implemented throughout California during Federal Fiscal Year 2020. The report, titled “Background on Local Health Department Reporting of CalFresh Healthy Living Programs in the Program Evaluation and Reporting System, FFY 2020”, also details challenges in reporting CFHL activities and gives recommendations to improve reporting.