Comment Request - WIC Participant and Program Characteristics Study

This data collection effort for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Participant and Program Characteristics Study is authorized by 7 CFR 246.25(b)(3) (2011). This legislation requires state and local agencies to provide information required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for the creation of biennial reports on WIC participant and program characteristics (PC). This information includes, at a minimum, income and nutritional risk characteristics of participants, information on breastfeeding incidence and duration, and participation in the program by category (pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women; infants; and children) within each priority level (as established in 7 CFR 246.7 (e)(4)) and by migrant farmworker households. The study affirms USDA's Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services' fourth strategic goal for 2014-2018: to ensure all of America's children have access to safe, nutritious, and balanced meals.