Who is eligible?
As the program’s name suggests, the WIC Program is accessible by qualified infants, children, and women. The women are required to be breastfeeding, pregnant, and postpartum; the children are required to be five years old or below; and the infants must be one years of age or less. These Norwich NY WIC participants must also comply with specific standards expressly provided by the government, namely in regards to their nutritional risk, income, and residency.
What is nutritional risk?
Essential, there are 2 categories of nutritional risk that is considered by the program: diet and medical. Medical risks may include child-bearing problems, age of the mother, underweight, and being anemic. In comparison, dietary risks might include the insufficiency of the applicant’s current diet.
The participant’s nutritional risk will be verified by a health care professional, such as a physician or nutritionist. The US FNS, working together with other branches of government, has the duty to develop the tests for measuring nutritional risk. The criteria will be reexamined whenever necessary to reflect the current demands of the modern era.
How many individuals has the program helped?
Recent reports show that more than 8 million persons receive assistance from WIC. When it began in 1974, there were about eighty-five thousand annual beneficiaries. After a few years, this number amounted to almost 2 million. After that, the number of beneficiaries have grown steadily.
Most of the participants are categorized as children. In fact, of the eight million present beneficiaries, more than 4,000,000 are children, almost 2,000,000 are women, and about two million are infants.
What benefits do participants receive?
Participants usually receive vouchers or checks, which are utilized to purchase predetermined kinds of food. The food a participant is given will largely depend on the nutritional risk he is experiencing. Additionally, a number of jurisdictions are beginning to use electronic cards instead of the typical vouchers and checks. This improved system will be applied through the country in approximately five years.