Data & Research
USDA is investing in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) to reach more eligible families, keep families in WIC while they remain eligible, encourage families to redeem more of their food benefits, and advance equity. The dashboard tracks the progress of this work.
This dashboard was created to share information about Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program retailer participation during fiscal year 2023.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNS research has learned through more than a decade of study.
The goal of the dashboard is to provide national and state level visualization of meals served, participation, and funding data for the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and Summer Food Service Program. The dashboard can be used by federal, state, and local organizations to assess trends in child nutrition program activity.
The FNS goal was to document the process (steps, time, and resources) for fully implementing Team Nutrition by communicating the four messages to students using the classroom and cafeteria as delivery channels, as well as other places in their environment such as the school, home, community and local media.
While a great deal of breastfeeding promotion and support is happening in WIC at both the state and local levels, there has been no systematic effort to evaluate what might work best in the WIC setting. Within this context, FNS contracted for a breastfeeding intervention design study with the following goals: Identify interventions to increase the incidence, duration and intensity of breastfeeding among women participating in WIC; and design an evaluation plan to examine the implementation and effectiveness of these interventions.
This report is the first step in the developing recommendations for revision to the WIC food packages. It reviews the nutritional needs and assesses the dietary adequacy of the WIC target population and proposes priority nutrients and food groups and general nutrition recommendations for the WIC food packages. This is a report of the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (Food and Nutrition Board), published here by permission. It is also available on the Institute of Medicine website.
The WIC and Head Start programs share common goals. Both programs strive to promote positive health and nutrition status for young families. Both programs provide young children and families with nutritious foods, health and nutrition education, and assistance in accessing on-going preventive health care. In many communities, WIC and Head Start serve the same families. By working together, programs have an opportunity to coordinate these services and maximize use of scarce resources (e.g., funding, staff, space). Working together can mean minimizing duplicative efforts on the part of families and staff; more opportunities for WIC and Head Start to benefit from each program’s strengths, expertise and best practices; and ultimately, more ways to make a positive impact on good health and nutrition for children and families.
This report represents the final evaluation of 26 research demonstration projects authorized under PL 101-264, entitled the "Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act" of 1990.
This executive summary describes Team Nutrition (TN) and findings from a pilot evaluation of the initiative. Detailed research findings are contained in two separate reports.