Overweight rates among WIC children aged 2 to 5 years have held steady around or just below the target of 15% in recent years.

Revised reports for this program outcome permit analysis based on whether a child's weight classification has improved since enrolling in WIC, rather than just reporting on the child's current weight status.  This modification will help identify and refine the more successful and promising interventions going forward.

There are, however, several areas of concern that are potential barriers to prevention efforts.  These include, among others:

Access - increased and easy access to less nutritious foods; increased food insecurity; often limited access - and/or lack of knowledge or skills - to prepare wholesome foods.

School - for older siblings, greater push for meeting test scores; less focus on physical education and recess.

Home - increased sedentary behavior; reduced value placed on, or inability to provide, adequate outdoor time.

Marketing - inappropriate marketing to children; promoting more highly processed and less nutritious substitutes to parents, promising health through food products.

Data:  Connecticut WIC data are current as of year-end 2022 and are updated quarterly.  

Note:  There is a gap from December 2015 through March 2017 where the CT WIC Program had no access to data on this Performance Measure while the Program was building, then transitioning to, a new Management Information System (MIS).

Principal partners:

- Healthcare providers, especially obstetric, pediatric, and primary care

- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps)

- State Department of Education (SDE) & local school systems

- CT Department of Public Health (DPH) & Local Health Departments/Districts

- Community Health Centers and other local healthcare facilities

- Head Start, Early Head Start and Birth-to-Three programs

Funding agency:

- US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

CT WIC promotes and/or implements a variety of strategies aimed at achieving and maintaining appropriate weight among its participant popultion, including, for example:

• Prenatal education and support on appropriate weight gain during pregnancy, food security, establishing healthy eating habits for life, and breastfeeding as the preferred infant feeding method.
• Increased breastfeeding initiation, and support for achieving recommended duration.
• Trained staff and collaborators, including staff Nutritionists, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs), Certified Lactation Counselors (CLCs), and Breastfeeding Peer Counselors (BFPCs) at Local Agency WIC Sites.
• Early intervention at pediatric visits, discussion on appropriate infant feeding practices and growth.
• Increased access to physical activity opportunities in the school and community.
• Community policies regarding increased access to nutritious foods and physical activity; community education with focus on prevention.
• Encourage a paradigm shift that views overweight and obesity as a public health issue rather than a judgment based on size or "lack of willpower".

Early prevention and consistent messaging are key to WIC's prevention efforts. Local agency staff provide nutritional assessment, monitoring and counseling to parents, both during the mothers' pregnancy to help ensure adequate weight gain and growth of the child, and following delivery.  These services include, too, breastfeeding promotion and support, complemented by WIC's Peer Support program.

The foods included in monthly WIC Food Packages are individually prescribed by WIC Local Agency Nutritionists, based on the results of each participant's nutritional assessment and ongoing monitoring, with follow-up visits scheduled for high-risk children, along with education, referrals and other appropriate actions.

State WIC Office Nutritionists work with Local WIC Agencies to develop lesson plans and tips for working with families in support of the healthy growth of their children.

Furthermore, Local Agency staff monitor families to ensure they have sufficient food, and regularly refer to SNAP and local food banks to help increase family food security.

Local staff also work to promote individual, family and community strategies to increase safe options for physical activity, including parks and open spaces near low-income residential areas with good lighting and sidewalks; community use of school facilities on weekends, etc.