United States during the earliest stages of life and thus has the potential to promote both the short- and long-term health of the nation.

In 1974, Congress authorized $100 million for the WIC program for fiscal year 1975 (U.S. Congress, Pub. L. No. 93-326, 1974); by the end of June 1975, more than 200,000 women, infants, and children were participating in the program. From the start, the WIC program has worked to improve the nutrition of eligible low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women;³ infants;⁴ and children.⁵ The WIC program does this by providing four main benefits: (1) supplemental food; (2) nutrition education; (3) breastfeeding support; and (4) referrals to health and social services. About three-fourths of funds for the WIC program are used to provide the food packages.

Unlike other federal food assistance programs, WIC is a highly targeted nutrition program. It aims “to provide supplemental nutritious food as an adjunct to good health care during such critical times of growth and development … to prevent the occurrence of health problems” (U.S. Congress, Pub. L. No. 94-105, 1975) and “improve the health status of these persons” (U.S. Congress, Pub. L. No. 95-627, 1978). In fiscal year 2003, the WIC program served an average of 7.6 million women, infants, and children per month at a total yearly cost of $4.5 billion (FNS, 2004f). The cost for the supplemental food that year was $3.2 billion (FNS, 2004f). However, WIC is not an entitlement program; the numbers of eligible women, infants, and children who can be served by the WIC program may be limited by the amount of funds appropriated to the program. To meet the WIC program’s goals of disease prevention and health promotion most effectively, the supplemental foods provided in the food packages must help address current nutritional concerns for participant groups while controlling costs. Thus, the food packages should be designed to improve participants’ food and nutrient intake to promote improved health.

Throughout the 30 years of the WIC program, many changes have occurred in the demographics and health risks of the population served, in