​This report responds to House Report 117-82, which directs the USDA to publish state-level estimates of the percentage of pregnant women, infants, and children under age five participating in FNS’s SNAP or in Medicaid but not participating in WIC.   

This report presents statistics from the survey that cover household food security, food expenditures, and use of federal nutrition assistance programs in 2021.

USDA's nutrition assistance programs touch the lives of one in four American consumers annually and the nutrition education efforts associated with select programs offer a powerful opportunity to promote food security and improve dietary quality among eligible individuals and families.

The WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study 2 (WIC ITFPS-2)/ “Feeding My Baby” Study  is the only national study to capture data on caregivers and their children over the first 5 years of the child’s life after enrollment in WIC, regardless of their continued participation in the program. This report focuses on the dietary intake patterns, eating behaviors, and weight status of children during the fifth year of life. The report also examines associations between WIC participation and key diet and health-related outcomes.

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.

The WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study 2 (WIC ITFPS-2)/ “Feeding My Baby” Study  captures data on caregivers and their children over the first 6 years of the child’s life after WIC enrollment to address a series of research questions regarding feeding practices, associations between WIC services and those practices, and the health and nutrition outcomes of children receiving WIC. To date, the study has produced three reports: the Intentions to Breastfeed Report (2015); the Infant Year Report (2017); and the Second Year Report (2018). The current report focuses on caregivers’ employment, school, and child care circumstances, as well as the feeding beliefs and practices, dietary intake, and weight status of children from birth through approximately 36 months of age.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine  convened an expert committee to review and assess the nutritional status and food and nutritional needs of the WIC-eligible population and provide recommendations based on its review and grounded in the most recently available science. The committee produced three reports as part of this task. 

This publication is based on the WIC Infant Feeding Practices Study (WIC-IFPS) sponsored by FNS. The WIC-IFPS is a one-year longitudinal study, which describes the infant feeding practices over the first year of life among a nationally representative sample of approximately 900 mothers who participated in WIC while they were pregnant.