WIC Nutrition Guide: Understanding the Connection Between Nutrition and Development

As a parent, it's essential to ensure that your child receives the best possible nutrition from an early age. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) plays a crucial role in providing healthy foods, nutrition support, and referrals to healthcare and community services for babies and children up to age five, pregnant women, and new mothers.

When it comes to WIC, look out for the pink sticker on milk, juice, cheese, bread, and tortillas. These items are part of the WIC food package designed to promote healthy eating habits in young children. However, not all stores may carry every WIC food item or brand listed in this guide.

WIC staff have reported that engaging with parents through this program helps educate, empower, and lead to completed doctor referrals. In fact, making referrals for potential developmental delays supports the WIC framework of monitoring children's growth and development and making referrals to community resources.

Tuning into a child's development can help parents become more responsive to their baby's feeding cues, boost their confidence in feeding, and lead to positive feeding interactions. Nutrition and development go hand-in-hand, and early identification can open the door to services and support that can help children gain skills and parents better support their needs.

The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) provides vouchers for eligible low-income seniors to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and roadside stands, as well as through community. Similarly, the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) offers fresh, unprepared, locally grown fruits and vegetables to WIC participants.

For pregnant women, their weight is plotted on a prenatal weight gain grid based on their pre-pregnant Body Mass Index (BMI) and whether it's a singleton or multiples pregnancy. WIC staff are likely to encounter children with developmental disabilities because these conditions are common, affecting about 1 in 6 children-even if they're not always readily apparent.

The Washington WIC Nutrition Program uses prenatal weight gain grids based on the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) prenatal weight gain guidelines. It's essential for parents and caregivers to work closely with WIC staff to ensure that their child receives the best possible nutrition and support.

Don't forget to submit your comments by February 21, 2023, as USDA seeks public input on proposed changes to the WIC food packages. By doing so, you can help shape the future of this vital program and ensure that it continues to provide essential services and support to those who need it most.

Wic nutrition guide