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 6 years of the child's life regardless of their continued participation in WIC. Overall, the study examines child-feeding practices, associations between WIC services and those practices, and the health and nutrition outcomes of children who received WIC around birth. This report, the fifth in the series generated from this study, focuses on the dietary intake patterns and weight status of children during the fourth year of life. The report also examines families' WIC experiences and their perceptions of the program's impact.

The Administrative Review is the process state agencies use to assess compliance with federal requirements of SFAs participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. This study assesses the AR process by examining the results from a purposive sample of ARs. The study also describes in-depth how nine selected state agencies conduct their ARs, and ways the process could be further improved.

FNS conducted a study of the first two years of this demonstration to describe the implementation process and explore the effects on certification, participation, federal reimbursements, and state administrative costs. This report presents the findings from the first year of the demonstration evaluation, school year 2016–17.

This study was designed to provide information on (1) the market availability of foods that meet the sodium standards for school meal programs set by regulation in 2012, (2) the strategies most often used by schools that have met the sodium targets, and (3) the technical assistance needs of schools and districts working to develop lower sodium menus.

The Federal Government fully funds SNAP benefits, but FNS and state agencies share administrative expenses, with each paying about 50 percent. State administrative costs per case varies widely by state. This study explores a number of factors, including state economic conditions, SNAP caseload characteristics, state SNAP policies, to try to explain the variation by state.

The Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive grant program provided $100 million to fund and evaluate projects that were intended to increase fruit and vegetable purchases among SNAP participants by providing incentives at the point of purchase. 

Expenditures on Children by Families provides estimates of the cost of raising children from birth through age 17 for major budgetary components.

The biennial WIC Participant and Program Characteristics Report describes a census of all participants in WIC. The most recent report (PC 2016) reflects state management information systems data from April 2016, and this Food Package Report is a supplemental analysis of that data. While PC 2016 summarizes participant characteristics, this report summarizes the food packages, or prescriptions, that state agencies issued to these participants.

This report supplements FNS administrative data on food package 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 17 major categories of WIC-eligible foods in FY 2014. This report is an update to the previous WIC Food Package Cost Report for FY 2010.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s 1990 WIC Medicaid Study I found that prenatal WIC participation was associated with improved birth outcomes and savings in Medicaid costs. A 2003 study by Buescher, et al., found that WIC participation during childhood was associated with increased health care utilization and Medicaid costs, and concluded that WIC enhanced children’s linkages to the health care system.