December 7, 2007 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced earlier this week that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will increase the amount of whole grains, vegetables, and fruit available in food packages and decrease the amount of milk, eggs, and cheese. State agencies must implement the provisions no later than August 5, 2009.

This shift will bring the food packages into accordance with current federal dietary guidelines, and it largely follows recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine in its review of the foods provided through the program. This is the first major change in the packages since the USDA initiated WIC more than 30 years ago.

WIC is one of the largest nutrition programs in the United States. In 2000 the WIC program served about half of all U.S. infants and about a quarter of children ages 1 through 4, along with many of their mothers. In many localities, food "packages" are actually itemized vouchers or checks that participants use to obtain specific foods at participating grocery outlets.

WIC was formed to serve those who face nutrition risks, which includes the failure to meet the dietary guidelines, as defined on a USDA factsheet. IOM's report on WIC food packages called for the program to provide more whole grains, fruit, and vegetables to reflect changes in scientific knowledge about nutrition and the nutritional challenges facing families. "We now know much more about the links between nutrition and chronic diseases, plus the nation is in the midst of an obesity epidemic," said Suzanne P. Murphy, in 2005 when she chaired the committee that wrote the IOM report, WIC Food Packages: Time For A Change. This report recommended a number of changes to the WIC nutrition assistance program to encourage participants to consume more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, as well as to promote breast-feeding, among other goals. "Our proposed revisions would bring the foods provided through WIC up to date with current nutritional science and make it easier for participants to improve their diets and health."

In addition, the IOM report Dietary Risk Assessment in the WIC Program found evidence that nearly all low-income women in the childbearing years and children ages 2 to 5 who are at dietary risk are vulnerable to unhealthy nutrition habits and may benefit from WIC’s services.

• WIC Food Packages: Time For A Change
• Dietary Risk Assessment in the WIC Program

• USDA factsheet