Study: Updates to WIC’s Nutrition Standards Highly Cost-effective in Preventing Childhood Obesity

A new study estimates changes to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) prevented roughly 62,700 cases of childhood obesity in 2019 alone. Overall improved health equity was another finding from the study “Cost-Effectiveness of Improved WIC Food Package for Preventing Childhood Obesity.” This study in the February 2024 edition of Pediatrics (published online Jan. 23) further revealed population health benefits could have been more than doubled, while resulting in similar implementation costs, if WIC had been reaching all eligible 2–4-year-old children. Researchers say an additional 82,300 cases of childhood obesity in 2020 were preventable. Since WIC’s reach did not expand to all eligible preschool-aged children, those paying health care costs in the U.S., including public and private insurance and families, missed saving an additional $93.4 million. In 2009, the federal government modified the WIC food package to promote foods supporting nutritional adequacy and reduced future chronic disease risk. From 2010-2019, microsimulation models estimated that 14 million 2–4-year-old children from low-income households were impacted by the WIC package change. Given the significant cost-effectiveness of the policy, authors of the study encourage future research to explore how to increase WIC participation.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.