Women Infants Children

Nutrition program helps families afford healthy foods

Connecticut women who meet income guidelines and need help providing their children with nutrient-rich foods can turn to the Hospital of Saint Raphael and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Saint Raphael’s coordinates the New Haven WIC Program, which consists of four full-time WIC offices: at Saint Raphael’s, Yale-New Haven Hospital, the Hill Health Center and the Fair Haven Community Health Center. There are also satellite offices in Branford, Hamden, Milford and West Haven. WIC serves infants, children up to 5 years of age, and pregnant, postpartum and breast-feeding women. Applicants are evaluated for both financial need and nutritional risk, classified as a medical or diet-based condition. Financial guidelines are based on the household’s gross income and family size: A family of four with a gross annual salary of $41,348 or less is financially eligible. Those participating in programs like SNAP (formerly Food Stamps), Temporary Family Assistance or HUSKY A / Medicaid are automatically income-eligible. The federally funded WIC program provides pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children with checks that can be used at authorized grocery stores. The program subsidizes nutrient-rich food like milk, cheese, eggs, fruit juice, dried beans and peas, peanut butter, cereals, fruits, vegetables, brown rice and whole grain bread products, as well as infant formula and jarred baby foods. “The addition of fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the WIC package in recent years has further improved a program that is a proven success and has had a significant positive impact on mothers and children in the Greater New Haven area,” said Mary Chervenak, Director of the New Haven WIC Program. “In addition to providing healthy food, the WIC program employs nutritionists who help mothers learn about how vital a balanced diet is during pregnancy, breastfeeding and childhood.

Feeding America's Children - nichellemitchem's posterous

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives proposed cuts to the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition and health program (WIC). WIC provides much needed health care and nutrition support for some of our most vulnerable families, including pregnant or breastfeeding women, infants, and children under five.

Hunger in America is prevalent. Hunger poses a clear and present danger to the health and well-being of an ever increasing number of infants and children. According to the WIC website, “…[when] WIC was permanently authorized, 88,000 people participated. By 1980, participation was at 1.9 million; by 1985, 3.1 million; by 1990, 4.5 million; and by 2000, 7.2 million. Average monthly participation for FY 2008 was approximately 8.7 million. Children have always been the largest category of WIC participants. Of the 8.7 million people who received WIC benefits each month in FY 2008, approximately 4.33 million were children, 2.22 million were infants, and 2.15 million were women.” [i] Estimates from The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities show that funding WIC at the US House proposed low level would result in eliminating 200,000 to 350,000 eligible low-income women and young children from WIC next year. [ii] It is a well known fact that proper nutrition is vital to the growth and development of healthy children thus highlighting the need for continued funding for feeding programs such as WIC.

On May 31, 2011, in response to the devastating funding cuts proposed by House Republicans, U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement regarding the proposed cuts to the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). [iii] These cuts further the attack on poor and working class Americans outlined in the FY12 Republican budget which proposes to severely cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, by $127 billion over ten years. [iv]

“House Republicans are trying to deny low-income mothers access to healthy food options. Their priorities are sorely misplaced. They push for tax cuts for big oil companies and threaten families with the greatest needs in this economy. If children don’t develop healthy habits early, if they don’t have enough food, they can struggle in the classroom and in life.

“@sopretty_monroe: As long as you know men are like children, you know everything”-then women are like infants

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Support WIC (Women, Infants, & Children) | causes.com Ryan budget wd cut WIC by over $500 million. NO! via

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