The WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2012: Food Package Report is a supplement to the WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2012 biennial report. The Food Package Report describes the content of WIC food packages based on information on the packages or prescriptions issued to WIC participants in April 2012. This report is a new report and should be of interest to researchers at USDA, academics, and others who study or have interest in the WIC program and nutrition.

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 reviews recent approaches to estimating the numbers of persons eligible for and participating in WIC. It also describes issues concerning these estimates that may be worthy of review and synthesizes research on these issues.

This study is the analysis of the relationship between prenatal participation in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and infant mortality among Medicaid newborns.