The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) began 40 years ago as a pilot program and has since grown to serve over 8 million pregnant women, and mothers of and their infants and young children. Today the program serves more than a quarter of the pregnant women and half of the infants in the United States, at an annual cost of about $6.2 billion. Through its contribution to the nutritional needs of pregnant, breastfeeding, and post-partum women; infants; and children under 5 years of age; this federally supported nutrition assistance program is integral to meeting national nutrition policy goals for a significant portion of the U.S. population. To assure the continued success of the WIC, Congress mandated that the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reevaluate the program's food packages every 10 years. In 2014, the USDA asked the Institute of Medicine to undertake this reevaluation to ensure continued alignment with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In this third report, the committee provides its final analyses, recommendations, and the supporting rationale.

First published in 1999. Project Head Start, a federal child development program for low-income families, serves both the mother and her children. Previous studies have emphasized Head Start's influence on the child in terms of cognitive gains, social development, and social-emotional development. A continuing problem to understanding the extent of Head Start impact on families is the absence of reliable information about Head Start's influence on the mother and how that influence transfers to the family as they work toward self-sufficiency. This study investigated two issues: (1) the experiences, perceptions, and levels of involvement of mothers who participate in Head Start social services, and (2) how these mothers describe their benefits and relate these benefits to family experiences such as increased problem-solving, coping, and parenting skills.

Following in the footsteps of Project Head Start: Past, Present and Future Trends in the Context of Family Needs (Garland, 1987) this new work addresses current and future needs of young children and their families. A bibliography and index are included.