A federal program that helps millions of low-income mothers, infants and young children pay for groceries will soon emphasize more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and offer a wider selection of foods from different cultures. is.
Final rule changes to the program, known as WIC, were announced Tuesday by the Food and Nutrition Service and are expected to go into effect within two years, with some exceptions.
The new WIC rules, last updated 10 years ago, permanently provide for increased monthly cash vouchers for fruits and vegetables, which were first enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is. Shoppers can also add canned fish, fresh herbs, lactose-free milk, and more to their carts. The vouchers are expected to take effect by June, officials said.
“This bill focuses on fruits and vegetables, which we believe are important components of a healthy diet,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an interview. “It’s designed to fill the nutritional gaps in many of our diets.”
The WIC program served an average of approximately 6.6 million low-income Americans per month in 2023, at a cost of just over $7 billion. It is designed to supplement the food budget of pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, as well as to feed infants and young children up to the age of five. This is accomplished by providing vouchers to eligible mothers and children and specifying the amount and type of meals. Can buy.
But officials said only about half of those eligible are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Under the new rules, fruit and vegetable coupons in 2024 will provide $26 a month for children ages 1 to 4. $47 per month for pregnant and postpartum women. $52 for breastfeeding women. This change will also expand access to whole grains such as quinoa, wild rice and millet, and foods such as teff and whole wheat naan. It will also eliminate or reduce the monthly juice allowance and reduce the milk allowance.
The program’s meal plans are based on recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the federal government’s 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The plan did not include a change requested by the nation’s top allergist to add peanut products to the list of foods allowed for infants 6 to 11 months of age to prevent peanut allergies.
A study published in 2015 showed that early introduction of peanut foods can reduce the likelihood of developing allergies in high-risk children, and some U.S. guidelines recommend Suggests exposing at-risk children to peanuts within the first 4 months of life.
Dr Gideon Luck from King’s College London, who led the study, said adding peanuts to the WIC guidelines could have prevented more than 34,000 infants from developing peanut allergies. . But federal nutrition officials concluded that this change was “outside the scope” of the final rule.
Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a professor of pediatrics and pediatric allergy expert at Northwestern University, called the omission “unfortunate.” She noted that WIC enrollees often include children of color, who are at higher risk of developing dangerous peanut allergies.
The decision “will only widen the disparities we already see in the prevalence of food allergies,” she says.
