This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Direct certification is a process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications.
This report offers updated estimates of the population that met these criteria and was eligible for WIC benefits in 2010. This report includes (1) estimates of the number of eligibles (including children by single year of age) and coverage rates; (2) updated estimates in U.S. territories; and (3) confidence intervals.
This report summarizes findings from the fourth School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study, which collected data from nationally representative samples of school districts and schools in school year 2009-10.
In 2006, FNA asked the Institute of Medicine to review the WIC food packages. The IOM proposed major changes to improve nutrition and encourage breastfeeding but also expressed the concern that changes related to partial breastfeeding may have unintended consequences. The IOM recommended that FNA conduct an impact study evaluating the birth month breastfeeding changes to the WIC food packages.