This study is part of a larger FNS effort to ensure WIC program integrity and to comply with the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 which requires FNS to estimate improper payments in its programs.

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.

SEBTC demonstration offered a rigorous test of the impact of providing a monthly benefit of $60 per child - using existing electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems - on food insecurity among children during the summer when school meals are not available.

Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC) Demonstration:

2012 Congressional Status Report and Appendices Contract #: AG-3198-C-11-0002

The Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children conducted its initial proof-of-concept during the summer of 2011. The SEBTC demonstration aims to mitigate summer child food insecurity by leveraging existing EBT technologies used by the WIC and SNAP programs.

Final Congressional Status Report on the 2012 Summer Food Service Program Enhancement Demonstrations

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. 

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. 

This report offers updated estimates of the population that met these criteria and was eligible for WIC benefits in each of the years 2000 through 2009. This report includes some new estimates not included in previous reports: (1) estimates of the number of eligibles and coverage rates by state; (2) updated estimates in U.S. territories; (3) confidence intervals; and (4) estimates of eligible children by single year of age.

WIC Participant and Program Characteristics summarizes the demographic characteristics of nationwide participants in April 2010. It includes information on participant income and nutrition risk characteristics, estimates breastfeeding initiation rates for WIC infants, and describes WIC members of migrant farm-worker families.