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WIC WORKS, perhaps better than any other government program in existence," Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman recently declared. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan agreed: "The WIC Program results in significant Medicaid savings that far outweigh the program's costs by a ratio of 3 to 1.... That is clearly an overwhelming return on a small national investment." Such statements testify to the extraordinary bipartisan support enjoyed by WIC. Officially known as the "Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children," WIC is a several billion dollar program, serving millions of women and children. The program's popularity stems from the widespread belief that research studies have proven that WIC "works." But, although some studies suggest real dietary and health improvements, the great benefits cited above apply only to WIC's prenatal program (only a small part of the total program). Even here the evidence suggests much more modest effects than WIC's boosters claim.
Some will argue that this exaggeration is harmless enough and is for a good cause: $5 billion a year in additional food and counseling services for low-income children and pregnant and breastfeeding or postpartum women. But overstating WIC's effectiveness prevents an honest appraisal of the program and stands in the way of redesigning the program to increase its impact on those who most need its combination of food packages and counseling.
Anatomy of a program
WIC was established in 1972 as a two-year pilot program partially in response to the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health. The conference report argued that nutritional deficiencies among low-income women and children threatened their health and led to higher medical costs. WIC seeks to improve the diets (and, thus, the health) of low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, or postpartum women, as well as their infants and children (up to age five).
Benefits. WIC is a three-part program: (1) vouchers to purchase specific high-nutrition foods to supplement diets, (2) nutritional and health counseling, and (3) referrals to healthcare and social-service providers.
WIC's food "packages" are meant to supplement the recipients' diet, not to meet their entire food or dietary needs. High in protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C, they are designed to provide the nutrients often lacking in the diets of the populations targeted...