Now WIC food packages include whole wheat bread or allowable substitutions, and require that at least 50% of WIC-provided cereals be whole grain, and that whole wheat bread and cereal be stocked at WIC-authorized stores at all times. Prior to the WIC food package revisions, breakfast cereals were the only grains provided to WIC participants. The WIC program is designed to help meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children who are at nutritional risk. However, most of the grains consumed today are refined, and do not provide the same health benefits as whole grains. The government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that healthy individuals eat at least three servings of whole grains daily. The study is published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Purchases of 100% whole-grain bread and brown rice increased among participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) after the program changed in 2009 to offer foods that better reflect dietary recommendations for Americans. Efforts to encourage healthy consumption of whole grains by people receiving federal food assistance are paying off, according to a study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.
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