Ten years ago the USDA issued the recommended foods and their proportions for recipients of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Since that time there's been new information on what moms and kids should eat.
"These participant-centered changes will strengthen WIC by ensuring the foods participants receive reflect the latest nutrition science to support healthy eating and the brightest futures," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
The changes involve more vegetables, fruits and seafood and fewer dairy products. The science that has changed in determining the most healthful diet for the women and their children is the result of a congressional requirement. Every ten years a study of the subject must be made. It is done by the National Academy of Medicine, established in 1970 as a part of the National Academy of Sciences.
It's difficult to imagine what kind of scientific discoveries could change the value of milk, oranges, brussel sprouts or cheddar cheese in anyone's diet. Perhaps there might be data indicating the quantity and make-up of any particular food optimal for a four-year old. In any event, even a bureaucracy of the well-intentioned can't say, after ten years, that nothing in the nutrition world has changed. They must earn their keep by making recommendations and one that says everything is just fine won't cut the mustard. So some food juggling must take place.
Additionally, the approved foods are not the same in all states, the difference ordinarily being the brands being sold there. New brands have shown up and older ones have disappeared. Thankfully, the $6.2 billion program that helps provide nutrition to 53% of the children born in the US will continue to keep grinding away.
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