More families than ever are finding it hard to put healthy food on their dinner tables. For young children, a lack of good nutrition can put them at risk for health problems and problems in school. North Carolina’s WIC program, otherwise known as the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, helps low-income families meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and post-partum women, infants and children up to age 5.
“While adding more fruits and vegetables to these families’ diets is an important part of our program, participants get more than just food from WIC,” says Moore County WIC Nutritionist Alyssa Tammara. “WIC offers families nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding promotion and support, supplemental foods, and even healthcare referrals.”
The North Carolina WIC Program currently serves an average of nearly 260,000 participants each month. Studies show that children who participate in WIC are more likely to receive regular preventive health services and are better immunized than children who did not participate in WIC. WIC participants receive helpful one-on-one counseling with a nutrition professional. Better educated moms mean healthier babies. Medicaid beneficiaries who participated in WIC had lower infant mortality rates than Medicaid beneficiaries who did not participate in WIC. WIC participation also decreases the incidence of low birth weight and pre-term births.
“WIC is so much more than people realize,” says Tammara, “the nutrition education and healthy foods that WIC provides really give children a healthy start in life, which is so important.”
The WIC Program is available at the Moore County Health Department located at 705 Pinehurst Avenue in Carthage. You may apply for WIC by calling to schedule an appointment during their hours of operation, Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and on Fridays from 7:30 a.m.-noon
To be eligible for WIC, a person must:
• Be a pregnant woman; a breastfeeding woman who has had a baby in the last 12 months; a woman who has had a baby in the last six months; an infant; or a child up to their fifth birthday.
• Reside in North Carolina.
• Meet income eligibility requirements: The gross annual income cannot exceed 185% of the Federal poverty income guidelines (All Medicaid, Food and Nutrition recipients (SNAP) and Work First recipients meet the WIC income eligibility criteria); and
• Have an identified nutritional risk as determined by a health professional.
For more information about WIC, general program assistance, or to make an appointment, please call the Moore County WIC Program at 910-947-3271 or visit www.ncdhhs.gov/ncwic.
Contributed.
