WASHINGTON, D.C.—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that a USDA study found that participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is not related to being overweight.
"One of the most worrisome aspects of the growing tide of obesity in the United States is the high rate of overweight children," Vilsack said. "President Obama and I are concerned because over one in five young children, ages 2 to 5, are at risk of being overweight-and their numbers have grown in the past two decades."
Vilsack said he was pleased to learn that the overall results of "WIC and the Battle Against Childhood Overweight," a report by USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS), found that body weight was not associated with WIC participation. The number of young children whose families participate in WIC doubled from 1.7 million in 1988 to 4.0 million in 2007.
This report was one of three released today on USDA food assistance programs, which are administered by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service.
The second report, “The Food Assistance Landscape,” examines trends in food and nutrition assistance programs from Oct. 1, 2007, to Sept. 30, 2008, and discusses issues facing the National School Lunch Program.
The third report, “The WIC Program: Background, Trends, and Economic Issues, 2009 Edition,” identified and framed some of the numerous issues facing the program, focusing mainly on those with important economic implications.
