WIC News and Resources

New WIC Videos: Meet Imani, a WIC Mom, and Get a Healthy Start with WIC!

Hunger Solutions New York is excited to announce that the first video in our WIC animated character series is available to WIC agencies and partners. Meet Imani, a mom of two, who talks about the healthy food her four-year-old gets from WIC and how WIC helped during her pregnancy and while breastfeeding. Find 15- and 30-second Imani videos in English and Spanish to use on your website, social media, and other communications by visiting the WIC Resource Center. Stay tuned for news about our other animated characters—Marcus, a dad, and Anita, a grandmother caring for her grandchild.

Our Get a Healthy Start with WIC video is also available in the WIC Resource Center. This two-minute video discusses WIC eligibility, benefits, what to expect at your first appointment, and the flexibility to schedule in-person or remote appointments. Shorter versions are also available, and Spanish videos are coming soon!

Wanda Push Cards Now Offered in Spanish!

WIC agencies and partners can spread the word about Spanish-speaking Wanda and connect families who speak Spanish to WIC with our new Spanish Wanda push cards. Use this order form to request free, professionally printed bulk orders of Wanda push cards or the WIC Factsheet, both available in English and Spanish. Please allow 2-3 weeks for bulk orders to be printed and shipped.

In Case You Missed It: Remote Services and Fruit & Veggie Boost Continue

WIC waivers, flexibilities, and enhancements related to the COVID-19 pandemic—including remote services and the Cash Value Benefit (CVB) increase for the fruit and vegetables portion of the WIC food package—reduced barriers to participation and increased access to healthy food. Federal action has addressed these two essential but temporary WIC flexibilities.

WIC's temporary remote services are extended through September 30, 2026. Waivers from USDA last year allowed WIC agencies to continue to enroll and serve participants remotely via phone, text, and/or video conference and to continue to provide remote issuance of WIC benefits onto eWIC cards. All WIC applicants and participants are provided the choice of an in-person or remote appointment.

On March 9, President Biden signed a FY24 Appropriations package that included $7.03 billion in funding for WIC, an increase of more than $1 billion over prior year funding. In addition to maintaining the longstanding, bipartisan precedent of “fully funding” WIC so that every eligible family that seeks WIC services can receive them, the bill extended WIC’s temporarily enhanced fruit and vegetable benefit through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2024. CVB amounts are currently set at 50 percent of the recommended intake based on guidance from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, resulting in monthly CVB benefits of:

• $26 per month for children ages 1 to 5
• $47 per month for pregnant and postpartum individuals
• $52 per month for fully and partially breastfeeding individuals
• $78 per month for individuals breastfeeding more than one infant

The benefit boost has improved access to nutritious food, leading to increased fruit and vegetable consumption among children enrolled in WIC. It is also credited for increased child participation in WIC.

We remain hopeful that Congress will provide the necessary federal funding to make the increased fruit and vegetable benefit permanent. We will continue to provide updates.

FY25 Budget Request Includes Substantial New Investment in WIC

On March 5, the White House unveiled the President’s Budget Request for fiscal year 2025, outlining the Administration’s funding and policy priorities for the year ahead. The Request includes a proposed $7.7 billion in funding for WIC, a roughly $700 million increase over FY24 funding, which the White House indicates would provide funds to support every eligible family who seeks WIC services, implementation of updated food packages, and investments in new technology and modernization initiatives. 

State and National Research and Resources Round-Up

Collaborative Strategies for State Medicaid and WIC Agencies to Enhance Maternal and Child Health

Only 37 percent of all WIC-eligible Medicaid enrollees participate in WIC. Moreover, only 14 percent of pregnant WIC-eligible Medicaid enrollees participate. A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families describes ways Medicaid and WIC agencies can work together to increase WIC participation and improve the health of young children, pregnant people, and new parents. In New York State, the Governor announced in the 2024 State of the State that the Department of Health will complete data sharing across the Medicaid and WIC programs this year, laying the infrastructure for future outreach to WIC-eligible residents who are not currently receiving benefits. Read more about the plan to use data matching to identify WIC-eligible individuals on page 149 of the 2024 State of the State Book.

Cost-effectiveness of Improved WIC Food Package for Preventing Childhood Obesity

American Academy of Pediatrics research published in their February 2024 journal Pediatrics found that the 2009 update to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) was estimated to be highly cost-effective for preventing childhood obesity from 2010-2019.

The researchers found that an estimated 14 million U.S. children aged 2 to 4 years were reached by the updated WIC nutrition standards from 2010 through 2019. An estimated 62,700 cases of childhood obesity were prevented in 2019, all of which involved children from households with low incomes, thereby improving health equity. Per quality-adjusted-life year (QALY) gained, the update was estimated to cost $10,600. The typical cost per QALY gained that is considered cost-effective is between $50,000 to $150,000. More than twice as many cases of childhood obesity would have been prevented if WIC had reached all eligible children.

WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study 2: Infant Year Report

The WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study–2 (WIC ITFPS-2)/ “Feeding My Baby” captures data on WIC caregivers and their children over the first 5 years of each child’s life to address a series of research questions regarding feeding practices, the effect of WIC services on those practices, and the health and nutrition outcomes of children on WIC. Additionally, the study assesses changes in behaviors and trends that may have occurred over the past 20 years by comparing findings to the WIC Infant Feeding Practices Study–1 (WIC IFPS-1), the last major study of the diets of infants on WIC.

This study will provide a series of reports. The current report focuses on breastfeeding intention, initiation and duration, and the introduction of complementary foods. Findings include:

• Breastfeeding rates have risen dramatically over the past 20 years
• The introduction of complementary foods too early is much less prevalent among WIC participants than before
• Caregivers credited WIC with making positive changes in how they fed their infants and themselves
• WIC participants received extensive support from WIC

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