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Contact Jean Daniel (703) 305-2286
jean.daniel@fns.usda.gov

STUDY PROFILES CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN WHO DO  – 
AND WHO DO NOT  – PARTICIPATE IN WIC

WASHINGTON, DC, October 31, 2000 -- A new study compares and contrasts children in WIC with nonparticipating low-income children who would be eligible based on income alone, and children who are not eligible.

Conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, the study extracts data from three existing databases of information on income and program participation, nutrition, and child development.

"This study gives us many interesting facts about children that were previously unavailable," says Shirley Watkins, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at USDA, "facts about their nutritional status as well as their home life. The bigger picture is important as we look for ways to make WIC a better program."

Key findings on nutritional and health status and dietary intake include:

  • More than half of WIC children are in families whose income is below the Federal poverty level; 25 percent of them earn less than half the Federal Poverty Level, compared to under 20 percent of income-eligible nonparticipants. (To be eligible for WIC, income must be below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level.)

  • WIC children receive significantly more calcium and folate than other low-income children.

  • However, WIC and other low-income children both consume higher amounts of sodium, cholesterol, fat, and saturated fat than higher-income children.

The study also reveals data on demographic and income characteristics, health care utilization, and participation in other assistance programs:

  • The average age of WIC mothers at the time of their child’s birth was 25. Only 7.5 percent of children had mothers who were teenagers.

  • About 40 percent of WIC children were breastfed, mostly for less than 6 months.

  • Nearly one-third of WIC mothers smoked during pregnancy.

  • Nearly all WIC children had medical insurance, primarily through Medicaid.

  • Forty-three percent of WIC children participated in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and 60 percent in the Food Stamp Program; and 10 percent lived in subsidized housing.

  • Long-term participation in WIC was uncommon. Only 25 percent of infants and children who ever received WIC stayed on until their fifth birthday (the upper age limit).

Anyone interested in the study can read it by going to the following web address and clicking on "New on the OANE site" http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane 

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