States must estimate funding for foods in packages that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, readily available, and commonly consumed. Food cost accounts for approximately 70% of the total WIC program budget.
Instead, states must contain the food and administrative costs within the Congress-authorized budgets each year, i.e., “cost containment” within the WIC program. Congress does not set aside funds for every eligible individual to participate. This may not only help contain WIC program costs, but help participants manage their own non-WIC food expenses as well.īecause WIC is not an entitlement program, the U.S. The results can help develop interventions that encourage targeted participants to redeem lower-priced but equivalently healthy brands. Race/ethnicity and store characteristics may be significant factors in participants’ brand choices. Participants shopping in urban stores or midsized stores (with 5–9 registers) were less likely to choose higher-priced brands compared to rural stores or large stores (with 9+ registers). Minority participants were significantly more likely to redeem higher-priced brands of infant F&Vs, but more likely to choose lower-priced brands of bread.
Mixed effects logistic regression models were used to analyze the choice of higher-priced brands over lower-priced brands. This study used the WIC Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) data for 239,062 Virginia WIC participants’ brand choices in infant fruits and vegetables (F&Vs) and whole grain bread in May 2014–February 2015, one of the first such data sets available in the U.S. To aid the program’s food cost containment efforts, it is important to understand the individual and store characteristics associated with brand choices. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) often allows participants to redeem food benefits for various brands at different costs.
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