For Your Health: WIC Program Benefits

WIC (Women, Infant and Children) was established as a permanent program in 1974 to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk. Ripley County has many working families who qualify for this valuable program. This mission is carried out by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, nutrition education (including breastfeeding promotion and support), and referrals to health and other social services.

WIC is available in all 50 states. WIC is not an entitlement program as Congress does not set aside funds to allow every eligible individual to participate in the program. WIC is a federal grant program for which Congress authorizes a specific amount of funds each year for the program. There are certain guidelines that clients must meet to qualify.

WIC foods include: infant formula; infant and adult cereal; baby food fruits, vegetables and meats; whole wheat bread, brown rice, soft corn and whole wheat tortillas; juice; eggs; milk; cheese; peanut butter; dried beans or peas; fruits and vegetables; soy beverage, tofu; and canned fish. WIC is a supplemental program. For infants of women who do not fully breastfeed, WIC provides iron-fortified infant formula. Special infant formulas and medical foods may also be provided if medically indicated.

WIC benefits are not limited only to food. Participants have access to a number of resources, including health screening, nutrition and breastfeeding counseling, immunization screening and referral, substance abuse referral, and more. Even though breast milk is the most nutritious and complete source of food for infants, nationally less than 30 percent of infants are breastfed at 1 year of age. A major goal of the WIC program is to improve the nutritional status of infants; therefore, WIC mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their infants, unless medically contraindicated. More than half of the infants in the United States participate in WIC. WIC participants support the local economy through their purchases.

In most WIC state agencies, participants receive paper checks or vouchers to purchase food. It has been mandated that all state agencies implement WIC electronic benefit transfer (EBT cards-like a credit card) by Oct. 1, 2020. Our state agency is working diligently to make this happen. EBT uses a magnetic stripe or smart card that participants use in the check-out lane to redeem their food benefits.

For more information on the WIC program, call the health center at 996-2181.