Racial and Ethnic Comparisons in Satisfaction with Services Provided by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children in California.

Understanding satisfaction of nutrition education and other services provided in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is needed to ensure the program is responsive to the needs of diverse populations. This study examined the variation of WIC participants' perceptions and satisfaction with WIC nutrition education and services by race, ethnicity, and language preference. Phone surveys were conducted in 2019 with California WIC families with children aged 1−4 years. While most participants (86%) preferred one-on-one nutrition education, online/mobile apps were also favored (69%). The majority (89%) found nutrition education equally important to receiving the WIC food package. Racial/ethnic groups differed in which WIC service they primarily valued as 20% of non-Hispanic White people rated the food package as more important than nutrition education compared to 5% of Spanish- and 6% of English-speaking Hispanic people, respectively. More Spanish (91%) and English-speaking Hispanic people (87%) than non-Hispanic white (79%) or Black people (74%) changed a behavior because of something they learned at WIC (p < 0.001). Spanish-speaking Hispanic people (90%) had the highest satisfaction with WIC nutrition education. Preferential differences among participants suggest that providing flexible options may improve program satisfaction and emphasizes the need for future studies to examine WIC services by race and ethnicity.

Alignment of California WIC Participant Preferences With Proposed WIC Food Package Recommendations.

OBJECTIVE: Assess alignment of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participant preferences with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine WIC child food package recommendations and compare differences by race/ethnicity. METHODS: Cross-sectional examination of survey responses collected between January and May 2019 from 2,993 California WIC families with children aged 1-4 years. RESULTS: Over half of WIC participants (56.1%) wanted an increase in the amount allocated for fruits and vegetables. Many WIC participants (69.6%) thought the amount of juice offered by WIC was just right. Overall, the majority (91.0%) wanted to substitute more fruits and vegetables for juice. Most were satisfied with the amount of beans (78.4%), peanut butter (78.7%), and milk (88.3%). Preferences differed by race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Preferences of California WIC participants are highly aligned with the proposed National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine changes for increasing fruits and vegetables. Notable differences by race/ethnicity suggest the need for more flexibility.