Breastfeeding Promotion and Support
National Changes with the New WIC Food Packages
Reasons for Emphasis on Breastfeeding
On July 1, 2009, the Utah WIC Program’s food packages are changing to better meet the
nutritional needs of the WIC participants, to strengthen WIC’s breastfeeding promotion
efforts and to better support the establishment of long-term breastfeeding relationships.
The new food packages align with the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, the infant feeding practice guidelines of the American Academy
of Pediatrics
and
the
Institute
of Medicine’s
comprehensive
recommendations for breastfeeding mothers and their infants. The IOM
recommendations are based on thorough consideration of scientific research
and public comments on how to promote and support breastfeeding in WIC.
Breastfeeding objectives are part of Healthy People 2010; WIC participants lag behind
the general population in progress toward meeting those objectives. The Surgeon General
issued the U.S. Health and Human Services Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding in
2000, introducing it with the statement, “Breastfeeding is one of the most important
contributors to infant health….” Federal mandates require WIC to promote breastfeeding
as the best method of infant nutrition and encourage women to breastfeed through
offering appropriate support. These provisions include breastfeeding education provided
to pregnant women and for breastfeeding moms, peer counseling support, access to
lactation professionals, and offering breastfeeding aids such as breast pumps. The new
food packages compliment and support these mandates.
Breastfeeding provides substantial short- and long-term health benefits for the infant and
the mother. WIC is committed to assist mothers in establishing lactation in the critical
weeks after birth and continuing to breastfeed during the first year and beyond. A
significant part of this success depends on how well WIC staff members convey these
changes to the WIC participants, and h