US nutrition aid needs better food, report finds

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A US government program to supplement the diets of poor women and children needs substantial revision to encourage eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, federal advisers said on Wednesday.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) should also do more to encourage breast feeding, the Institute of Medicine panel said.

The program is currently heavy on eggs, cheese and milk but should instead offer more vouchers or coupons for fresh produce totaling $10 per month for each woman and $8 a month per child, the expert committee advised.

“Because scientific knowledge about nutrition has greatly increased since the WIC program’s inception, and the nutritional challenges facing families have altered significantly, it is definitely time for a change in the foods offered through WIC,” said Suzanne Murphy of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, who chaired the panel.

“We now know much more about the links between nutrition and chronic diseases, plus the nation is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Our proposed revisions would bring the foods provided through WIC up to date with current nutritional science and make it easier for participants to improve their diets and health.”

The WIC program, aimed at low-income women, infants, and children, was launched in 1974. It is one of the largest nutrition programs in the United States and served about half of all US infants and about one quarter of children ages 1 through 4 in 2000, along with many of their mothers.

It provides food packages as well as vouchers that clients can use to buy specified foods, but the foods provided have not changed since the US Department of Agriculture started the program.

These revisions would bring the program into line with the USDA’s own dietary guidelines, the Institute panel said.

The committee also proposed that fruit and vegetable baby foods be added to the packages for infants 6 months and older, and cereals provided should be whole grain.

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