WIC is a federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. It was created for low income families to get assistance with food and other necessities for children. It was started in 1974 and is a successful program all over the United States. WIC serves pregnant women, breastfeeding women, non-breastfeeding postpartum women, infants, and toddlers and children until age 5. In order to qualify, you must be determined to be “nutritionally at-risk” by a healthcare professional, meet income requirements (which vary according to the amount of people in your family, and reside in the state you apply in. It is available in all 50 states.
According to the federal data, 6.87 million people were recipients of WIC in 2018. The program issues vouchers for food that may include the following: infant cereal, fruit or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, canned beans, canned fish, fruits and vegetables, bread, baby food and other whole grain options. This wide variety of available foods allows for parents to provide adequate and well rounded nutritious meals for their children. Infant formula can also be provided.
This is a program that can be greatly beneficial not only in relieving the financial burden of providing the food but also in education. People who participate in the program also gain access to resources like health screenings, nutrition and breastfeeding counseling, substance abuse referral etc. It has been proven that WIC helps to provide longer and safer pregnancies, and improved performance in school among children. To find out if you are eligible you can go to: http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-benefits-and-services