Data & Research
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.
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.