The WIC program receives strong congressional and state support pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children receive vouchers to use in grocery stores and farmers' markets for targeted foods, while infants who are formula-fed receive an allocated amount of formula per month through the age of twelve months. Than 45 percent of all infants in the United States receive WIC assistance. In the year 2000, WIC enrollees numbered more than 7.2 million more In addition, the WIC program reaches thirtyfour Indian Tribal Organizations. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana, and Samoa.

Federal funding then reaches the states, and each state manages WIC program administration with more than 2,000 agencies throughout the fifty states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. Department of Agriculture administers funds and requirements for the WIC program through the Food and Nutrition Service. WIC was never intended to provide families with 100 percent of food and nutrition needs, but instead it provides nutrition counseling, health monitoring, and foods that meet basic nutrition needs. In 1975, WIC became a permanent government program, providing supplemental foods to low-income pregnant women until six weeks postpartum breastfeeding mothers through the child's first twelve months infants and children up to the age of five. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutritional assistance program began in 1972 as a two-year pilot program, part of the 1966 Child Nutrition Act. Source: 'WIC Approved Food List.' Missouri WIC Approved Foods List, 2005–2007(2005).Ībout the Author: The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) administers the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program for the state of Missouri. Mothers who fully or partially (mostly) breastfeed their infants are eligible to participate in WIC for up to one year after giving birth.By: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)

WIC staff provide moms with a breastfeeding assessment and help mom meet her breastfeeding goals. What's in your food package depends on how much you are breastfeeding and how much infant formula your baby may get from WIC. WIC's goal is to encourage mothers to breastfeed without supplementing with infant formula. WIC provides nutrition education, breastfeeding education and support supplemental, highly nutritious foods such as cereal, eggs, milk, whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables, and iron-fortified infant formula and referral to prenatal and pediatric health care and other maternal and child health and human service programs.Īs part of the WIC program, moms get nutritious food packages. Women Infant and Children (WIC) Authorized Food List

Wic approved food list