USDA Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Vendor Criteria: An Examination of US Administrative Agency Variations

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, is associated with improved healthy food and beverage access due to its requirement for minimum stock of healthy foods and beverages in WIC-eligible stores. The selection and authorization criteria used to authorize WIC vendors varies widely More

Impact of breastfeeding interventions among United States minority women on breastfeeding outcomes: a systematic review

In the U.S., strong ethnic/racial, socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic breastfeeding inequities persist, and African American and Hispanic women are less likely to meet their breastfeeding goals compared to White women. This systematic review was designed to answer the question: What is the impact of breastfeeding interventions targeting ethnic/racial minority women in the U.S. on improving More

WIC Online Grocery Ordering: A Click & Collect Model

For WIC participants, COVID-19 added additional barriers to an already challenging shopping experience. For WIC agencies, WIC vendors, and other stakeholders interested in improving access to WIC foods, this infographic describes a model for online grocery ordering that meets current federal regulations and makes it easier for program participants to redeem WIC benefits, during COVID-19 More

Reducing Digital Marketing of Infant Formulas

Breastfeeding protects against overweight and obesity, asthma, eczema, and type-II diabetes, and has long-term health benefits for women. The health benefits of breastfeeding are so valuable that in 1981, the World Health Organization established the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes (WHO Code) that prohibits marketing infant formula to the public. The U.S. has More

Effect of a Home-Visiting Intervention to Reduce Early Childhood Obesity Among Native American Children

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a brief home-visiting approach, Family Spirit Nurture (FSN), on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, responsive parenting and infant feeding practices, and optimal growth through 12 months post partum. This study was a 1:1 randomized clinical trial comparing FSN with an injury prevention education control condition More

Identifying geographic differences in children’s sugar‐sweetened beverage and 100% fruit juice intake using health system data

This study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of using health system data to examine the geographic distribution of sugar‐sweetened beverage intake and evaluate neighborhood characteristics associated with intake. Researchers extracted electronic health record data from a sugar‐sweetened beverage and 100% fruit juice screener used for children ages 1 to 17 years in eight pediatric practices in North More

Association Between Usage of an App to Redeem Prescribed Food Benefits and Redemption Behaviors Among the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participants: Cross-Sectional Study

This study aims to examine the relationship between the use of a widely used mobile phone app, WICShopper, and the redemption of the prescribed food packages. WIC administrative data were obtained from West Virginia for the period January 2019 to January 2020 and included 30,440 WIC households that had received food benefits in that period. More

Cost-Effectiveness of Commonly Used Childhood Obesity Interventions in Schools and ECE Settings to Inform Strategic Planning

This project will identify commonly used obesity prevention programs that have limited effectiveness for obesity prevention and are thus a suboptimal use of limited public health resources. The specific aims are to: 1) Identify two commonly implemented childhood obesity prevention interventions targeting children ages 0-8 that may lack evidence for impact; 2) Conduct a systematic More

Assessing the Impact and Feasibility of WIC Remote Services and Expanded Food Options

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated barriers to participation in the WIC program, since people were encouraged or required to stay home and grocery stores experienced shortages of food items. Washington State’s WIC program has been actively re-tooling service delivery prior to and at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic to overcome participation barriers. This project More