The WIC Participant and Program Characteristics (PC 2004) report summarizes demographic characteristics of WIC participants nationwide in April 2004, along with information on participant income and nutrition risk characteristics. A national estimate of breastfeeding initiation for WIC infants is included. The report also describes WIC members of migrant farm-worker families.

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. In response to many concerns about the WIC food packages, FNS asked the Institute of Medicine to conduct a review of the WIC food packages.

Recently, the method used to calculate the number of individuals eligible for the WIC program was evaluated and an improved methodology was developed. These new, improved estimates provide better insight on the WIC program and should help improve the program in the future. The new estimates show that 13.5 million individuals were eligible for WIC and 7.7 million participated in WIC in 2003. This coverage rate of 57% is consistent with trends since 2000 and is similar to the coverage rate found in the Food Stamp Program.

The Analysis of the Summer Food Service Program and Food Needs of Non-participating Children was designed to determine why children who attended elementary school during the 2003-2004 school year and were eligible for free or reduced-price meals did not participate in SFSP. For the purposes of this report, children who are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals will be referred to as "SFSP-eligible children." 

The project is a component of ongoing FNS efforts to effectively develop administrative data collection on important issues in local level WIC staffing. This WIC Staffing Data Collection pilot project was prompted by a 2001 GAO report that: cited a range of quality of services between local WIC agencies; expressed concern that local agencies may not be able to provide adequate services; and cited a need for improved professionalism and quality of service, as well as enhanced availability of professional staff to provide direct services. 

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.

FNS conducted the three-year pilot from SY 2000–2001 through SY 2002–2003. The aim of this pilot was to study the impact of the availability of universal-free school breakfast on breakfast participation and measures related to elementary school students’ nutritional status and academic performance. This pilot was not intended to evaluate the current SBP or the value of consuming breakfast.

This study examines the implementation of provisions to improve our understanding of the variation in state and local approaches, the challenges encountered in restoring eligibility, the degree to which the eligibility restorations brought new immigrant households into the program; and the potential impacts of sponsor deeming and liability policies.

In this report we discuss our progress in deriving state participation rates for the working poor. We build upon recent studies examining national participation rates for socioeconomic and demographic subgroups and rates for states among the entire eligible population.

On average, about 21.3 million people living in 9.2 million households received food stamps in the United States each month in FY 2003. Food stamp households are a diverse group. Because food stamps are available to most low-income households with few resources, regardless of age, disability status, or family structure, recipients represent a broad cross-section of the nation's poor. This report provides information about the demographic and economic circumstances of food stamp households.