WIC Households' Bread and Cold Cereal Purchases: When They Use Benefits Versus Paying Out of Pocket

The US Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) seeks to improve the health of participating women and children by providing nutrition education and a monthly package of supplemental foods including whole grain bread and cereal. While some studies confirm that participants consume more whole grains, others find no effect. In this study, we hypothesize that the positive association between WIC and whole grains is being reduced in size and consistency by several factors.

American households were surveyed about their food purchases. Overall response rate was 45.6%. A total of 4826 households completed the survey including 471 WIC households.

The survey recorded households' purchases of refined and whole grains in bread and cereal over 1 week.

T tests were used to compare the bread and cereal purchases of WIC and eligible, non-WIC households. Probit models were also estimated to assess a WIC household's likelihood to choose whole grain foods when using benefits versus other payment methods.

On average, WIC households acquired more whole grains in bread than eligible, non-WIC households (1.33 vs 0.72 ounce equivalents per household member aged 1 year or older; P < .05). No difference is found for cereal ( P > .10). Moreover, when using payment methods other than WIC benefits, WIC participants are 19% less likely than other households to choose whole grain bread ( P < .05) and 20% less likely to choose a whole grain cold cereal ( P < .05), which suggests that WIC-provided foods may replace some whole grains participants would otherwise buy for themselves.

WIC is positively associated with whole grains. However, the association is stronger for bread than cereal. Moreover, foods provided through the program may partially replace whole grains that WIC households would otherwise buy for themselves.