Household WIC benefit redemption varies by participant and household characteristics in Southern California.

J Acad Nutr Diet

Division of Research and Evaluation, Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC Program, a program of Heluna Health. Electronic address:

Published: January 2025

Background: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides benefits redeemable for select healthy foods, aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, to support healthy diets among pregnant and postpartum women, and their children to age 5 years, living in low-income households. WIC benefits are often not fully redeemed, limiting nutritional benefits of participation.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the associations of WIC participant, caregiver, and household characteristics with WIC food benefit redemption.

Design: A prospective longitudinal study using WIC administrative data.

Participants And Setting: WIC participants served by a program in Southern California, November 2019-June 2023 (n=501,527 certification periods; n=271,116 individuals) were included in this study.

Main Outcome Measures: Average WIC benefit redemption percentage in certification periods in benefit categories (cheese/tofu; eggs; breakfast cereal; legumes; canned fish; fruits and vegetables (FV); infant foods (cereal, FV, meats, contract/therapeutic formula); whole grain bread; yogurt; whole, reduced fat milk; 100% juice) and across all categories, continuous and interval-scaled in 10% increments.

Statistical Analysis: Multivariable quantile regression and generalized estimating equation ordinal logistic regression models were used to assess associations between WIC participant, caregiver, and household characteristics with median and interval-scaled redemption percentage, respectively, in each and across all categories.

Results: Redemption ranged from very low (infant meats, 5.4%) to very high (infant formula, 96.2%). Median redemption across all categories was 70.6%. Significantly lower redemption was observed for households of Black, White and Other race/ethnicity-language preference individuals (compared to Hispanic, English-speaking); households with caregivers with lower educational attainment; and households with at least one month without food benefits issued, participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, income <100% federal poverty level, ≤5 individuals, or only 1 WIC participant.

Conclusions: WIC benefits are utilized at different rates by WIC participant, caregiver, and household characteristics. Groups with lower redemption may need additional support in utilizing benefits. Maximizing redemption might help all WIC participants derive the full positive nutritional impact of program participation.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2025.01.014DOI Listing

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