Posted Sept 30, 2009
It’s no secret that fruit, vegetables and low-fat milk are part of a balanced diet.
Still, one federal program is just now taking note, adding these essentials to a program for low-income pregnant women, infants and young children.
Starting Oct. 1, the Women, Infants and Children program will provide for the first time checks or vouchers for whole grain bread and fresh, frozen or canned fruit and vegetables. It’s the first major revision to the food offered in the program, which was launched in 1974 to combat anemia and malnutrition.
“Now I don’t have to struggle or decide, ‘Am I going to have enough money to buy this?'” said WIC recipient Nereyda Jaimes of Tampa, who at times struggles to find money to buy fruit and vegetables for her 2-year-old daughter. “Now I know I have it. I’m going to be able to use the voucher and get healthy.”
Federal bureaucracy and evolving research are partly to blame for slowing changes to the program, said Barbara Toth, a nutrition specialist at the Pinellas County Health Department. It also reflects an adjustment in national dietary concerns. Iron deficiency was a crisis when WIC started, but poor and low-income children now are part of the nation’s growing problem with obesity, she said.
“Hopefully this will be a start to introduce lower fats and more fiber to the family,” Toth said.
Nationwide, WIC serves about 8.2 million people, most of whom are infants and children up to age 5. There are 35,795 Hillsborough County children, breast-feeding mothers and pregnant women, and an additional 20,000 in Pinellas County now enrolled. Applicants must reapply every six months to remain eligible.
Under the new plan, children 1 year or older will receive less milk, cheese and fruit juices than before, and cereal choices will be revised to include whole grain options. Previous cereal choices focused on increasing iron, not fiber. In exchange for these reductions, WIC recipients will be awarded vouchers for whole grain breads, brown rice or corn tortillas, and a $6 voucher for vegetables and fruit each month. Infants 6 to 11 months also will have the option of getting baby food featuring fruit and vegetables for the first time.
WIC also is beefing up its offerings for breast-feeding mothers, which the program thinks can be the best source of nutrition for an infant. Mothers who are fully breast-feeding their children will get vouchers for whole grains, fruit and vegetables, as well as supplements for canned tuna or salmon. WIC supplements decrease if formula becomes the main or lone source of nutrition.
All of these food voucher changes did not increase the size of the $6.86 billion federal WIC budget. And it doesn’t change the understanding that WIC serves as a supplemental nutrition program for families whose gross income falls at or below 185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines. Eligible families of four would make $39,200 a year or less.
Nutritionists think the change in the kind of milk allowed will make the biggest impact. Children 2 and older will no longer receive whole milk. Instead, vouchers will only be good for 1 percent or fat-free milk. Hillsborough’s WIC offices began promoting that switch in March to help families adjust.
“It’s huge; it helps us fight overweight and obesity,” said Jennifer Ozimek, a Hillsborough County Health Department nutrition specialist.
Jaimes, 22, said she already has been buying lower-fat milk, and using her own money to buy fruit and vegetables for her daughter, Yarely Orozco. She said she sees how nutrition gets neglected with some children, and she knows she wants to avoid potential health problems for Yarely.
“I’m trying to avoid her getting big. I see now children that are 3, 4, and they’re really overweight for their age. I don’t want her to go through that,” said Jaimes, who brags that her daughter already likes lettuce and broccoli dipped in ranch dressing.
Ozimek said persuading parents to feed children more healthful foods will be the most difficult part of the WIC food transition. Adults are the ones selecting the groceries, and they themselves may prefer whole milk, or disdain fruit and vegetables. However, adults need to make the changes, too, she said.
“The children don’t need all that saturated fat and cholesterol,” Ozimek said, “And neither do the adults.”
Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at (813) 259-7365.
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Copyright © 2009, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Date: Sept 27, 2009