Data & Research
The National Survey of WIC Participants (NSWP) study series is designed to describe state and local agency characteristics, examine participants’ characteristics, assess participants’ experiences with WIC, and estimate improper payments resulting from certification errors in WIC. The study is conducted approximately every 10 years, and the current study is the third iteration (NSWP-III) in the series.
This report addresses actions taken by the Food and Nutrition Service to comply with the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 (PL 116-260, HR 116-446), which directs USDA to conduct a review of existing evidence and develop a plan to explore how participation in WIC is associated with maternal mortality, with emphasis on the needs of disadvantaged communities of color.
This study primarily uses 2011–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to examine bivariate relationships between reported WIC participation and outcomes including diet quality, indicators of nutrition and health, food consumption patterns, and nutrient intakes among 1- to 4-year-old children. Most results presented in this report are unadjusted and descriptive only, and do not infer causality. They are intended to contribute to the evidence base needed to inform future research and, subsequently, WIC policy and practice.
This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2018 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percents of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category.
This report supplements FNS administrative data on total food costs by estimating the average monthly food costs for each WIC participant category and food package type. It also estimates total pre- and post-rebate dollars spent on 18 major categories of WIC-eligible foods in FY 2018.
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.