WIC repackages itself

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer | Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

RAPID CITY - Sixteen-month-old Clarissa Bissonette enjoys several cups of fruit juice each day.

The youngster clearly prefers juice over milk, drinking it with meals and snacks.

To compensate for her daughter’s dairy indifference, Deanna Bissonette, an Oglala Lakota College student, makes sure that Clarissa eats plenty of string cheese, yogurt and other dairy foods to provide the nutrients needed for a growing toddler.

Being on a limited budget, Deanna, 22, and her daughters, Clarissa and Breanna,

2 months, receive federal food packages that supplement the family’s food budget, and ensure that they have access to foods rich in needed nutrients.

“I can use it without worrying about running out or having to use these foods sparingly,” Bissonette said.

Last month, the Food and Nutrition Service, formerly known as the Food and Consumer Service, closed its comment period on proposed changes to food packages of the Special Supplemental

Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC Program.

The proposed revised food package would keep its current WIC food package with some modifications, but would provide flexibility and greater consistency with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, said Susan Acker, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.

“The changes include soy-based beverages, tofu as milk alternatives for women, whole-grain bread and other whole grain options,” Acker said.

While the foods may change, cost to taxpayers to support the program would remain the same, she said.

Currently, WIC food packages provide supplemental foods designed to meet the special nutritional needs of low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, non-breastfeeding postpartum women, infants and children ages 0 to 5 years, who are at nutritional risk.

Rhonda Buntrock, South Dakota’s WIC director, said that for the federal year of 2006, 229,358 women, children and infants participated in the program in South Dakota.

“Monthly, an average of 19,100 people receive WIC food packages,” Buntrock said.

Participant eligibility depends on family size, income levels, and residency and also whether they have a nutrition risk. The program also includes nutritional education, counseling and breastfeeding support, referrals to health organizations and social agencies.

“Whatever the individuals need,” Buntrock said.

Kathy Kovall, community health dietician, said the food package is broken into four dated food vouchers that the clients like Bissonette receive at the beginning of the month. The clients then go to WIC approved grocery stores to buy their food.

“They have to use the food vouchers within the month,” she said.

Acker said the new changes would promote breastfeeding, providing more nutrients and stronger incentives for continued breastfeeding. The proposals also support improved eating habits, address emerging public health nutrition-related issues and reinforce nutrition education.

Established in 1974 through legislation by Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., and Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., the WIC program was a national effort to alleviate hunger. The Food and Nutrition Service, or FNS, administers the WIC nutrition assistance program for the USDA. South Dakota’s first pilot WIC program began in Roberts County in 1972.

Since that time, not much has changed as far as the variety of foods provided by the program.

“The WIC food packages have not been revised since 1980,” Acker said.

In response to emerging health issues and also the lack of change, FNS contracted with the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine in

September 2003 to conduct a 22-month study to review the nutritional requirements and assess the supplemental nutrition needs of the WIC population.

The Institute of Medicine released the final report of its review of food packages called “WIC Food Packages: Time for a Change” on April 27, 2005.

Acker said her department’s proposed changes would largely reflect the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations made in the final report.

“They establish greater consistency with the dietary guidelines for Americans and provide a greater amount of nutrients of concern for WIC’s target population,” she said.

Changes would offer increased flexibility in choice; and, she said, are specifically designed to accommodate WIC’s culturally diverse population.

The organization will hand down a decision on whether they will move forward with the proposed changes in September 2007.

“We’re reviewing and studying all of the comments we received,” Acker said.

Currently, Bissonette said the supplemental foods WIC provides are a huge help to her budget and for her children’s diet.

“If I wasn’t on WIC, a big part of my shopping list would be buying eggs, milk and cereal on my own,” she said.

Here is a list of food items WIC participants can choose:

· Infant formula

· Juice

· Milk

· Cheese

· Cereal

· Dried beans and peas (canned beans for homeless only)

· Peanut butter

· Eggs

· Carrots and canned light or white tuna also are available for breastfeeding women only.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.