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Resource | Research and Data | Participation Characteristics The WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2012: Food Package Report

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.

11/12/2014
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations School Foodservice Indirect Cost Study

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act directed USDA to study the extent to which school food authorities  participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs pay indirect costs to local education agencies. It specifically requested an assessment of the methodologies used to establish indirect costs, the types and amounts of indirect costs that are charged and not charged to the school foodservice account, and the types and amounts of indirect costs recovered by LEAs.

03/31/2014
Resource | Research and Data | Impacts/Evaluations Community Eligibility Provision Evaluation

Under the Community Eligibility Provision, schools do not collect or process meal applications for free and reduced-price meals served in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. Schools must serve all meals at no cost with any costs in excess of the federal reimbursement paid from non-federal sources. 

02/25/2014
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations WIC Food Package Cost Report, FY 2010

This report estimates the average monthly food costs for each of 5 WIC participant subgroups and estimates total dollars spent on 17 major categories of WIC-eligible foods in FY 2010. The participant and food level costs in this report are USDA’s first estimates since implementation of the 2009 WIC food package changes.

08/21/2013
Resource | Research and Data | Promoting Healthy Eating Characteristics and Dietary Patterns of Healthy and Less-Healthy Eaters in the Low-Income Population

The diets of most Americans fall short of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This exploratory analysis examines dietary patterns of low-income individuals classified as healthy and less healthy eaters based on their score on the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005. The HEI-2005 is a 100-point score that measures how well populations adhere to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 

02/01/2012
Resource | Research and Data | Breastfeeding Evaluation of the Birth Month Breastfeeding Changes to the WIC Food Packages

In 2006, FNS 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 FNS conduct an impact study evaluating the birth month breastfeeding changes to the WIC food packages. 

01/05/2012
Resource | Research and Data | Food/Nutrient Analysis WIC Food Packages Policy Options

This study describes some of the choices state agencies made as they exercised the flexibility offered during the implementation and describes the resulting food packages.

06/01/2011
Resource | Research and Data | Promoting Healthy Eating FDPIR Food Package Nutritional Quality: Report to Congress

This report, required under the 2008 Farm Bill, reviews the nutritional quality of the food package provided through USDA’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, comparing its content to scientific standards including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Dietary Reference Intakes, the Thrifty Food Plan nutrient standards and the Healthy Eating Index-2005. 

11/25/2008
Resource | Research and Data | Cost Study School Lunch and Breakfast Cost Study - II

This study examines the cost of producing National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program meals during school year 2005-06. It measures both reported costs – costs charged directly to school food service accounts – and unreported costs – those costs paid by school districts in support of school food authority operations – to estimate the full cost of meal production.

04/10/2008
Resource | Research and Data | Food/Nutrient Analysis Analysis of WIC Food Package Prescriptions, 1998-2002

The purpose of this report is to illustrate the types and amounts of foods being prescribed within the WIC food package for each category of participants. This report does not provide information on redemption of the food prescriptions, or on actual food consumption; at this time, comprehensive data are available only on food prescriptions.

04/01/2006
Page updated: May 22, 2025