This report is a census of women, infants, and children who were participating in the WIC program in April, 2012. The report includes information on participant income and nutrition risk characteristics, and estimates breastfeeding initiation rates for WIC infants.
The purpose of this memorandum is to remind state agencies that administer the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children of the federal WIC statutory and regulatory requirements for the authorization, issuance and rebate of infant formula in the WIC food packages.
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.
WIC provides healthy foods, personalized nutrition education, breastfeeding support and referrals to other services to support you and your family — all at no cost to you.
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.