Rethinking WIC An Evalution of the Women,

This book analyzes the research on the effectiveness of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Douglas J. Besharov is the Joseph J. and Violet Jacobs Scholar in Social Welfare Studies at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs.

Foreword

vii

Christopher DeMuth

PART ONE Rethinking WIC

Introduction

3

(8)

Key Points

5

(6)

Program Benefits

11

(6)

Food Packages

11

(3)

Nutritional and Health Counseling

14

(3)

Program Coverage

17

(9)

Eligibility

17

(2)

Program Participation

19

(2)

Eligibility Creep?

21

(5)

Previous Research

26

(9)

Postpartum and Breastfeeding Mothers

27

(1)

Infants

28

(1)

Children

29

(3)

Pregnant Women

32

(3)

Research Weaknesses

35

(15)

Selection Bias

35

(7)

Simultaneity Bias

42

(3)

Lack of Generalizability

45

(4)

Accounting for Research Weaknesses

49

(1)

Does WIC ``Work''?

50

(12)

Modest Impacts at Best?

50

(5)

The Need for a New General Accounting Office Estimate

55

(3)

The Need to Address Overweight

58

(4)

Programmatic Flexibility

62

(11)

Target WIC Benefits to More Needful Families?

63

(1)

Selectively Intensify WIC Benefits?

64

(1)

Add a Focus on Preventing Overweight?

65

(2)

Serve Children over Age Four?

67

(1)

Increase Directive Counseling?

68

(3)

Try Alternative Service Providers?

71

(2)

Rigorous Evaluation

73

(7)

The Limits of Nonexperimental Studies

73

(2)

Randomized Experiments

75

(5)

Conclusion

80

(9)

Appendix: Attempting to Correct for Selection Bias

81

(8)

PART TWO Commentaries

Addressing the Selection-Bias Problem for Program Targeting and Design

89

(6)

Michael J. Brien

Christopher A. Swann

Does WIC Work?

90

(1)

Birth Outcomes

91

(1)

Child Health

92

(1)

Can WIC Be More Effective?

93

(2)

An Incremental Approach to Testing WIC's Efficacy

95

(6)

Nancy R. Burstein

Theoretical Evidence on the Effects of WIC

95

(2)

Empirical Evidence on the Effects of WIC

97

(2)

Is WIC Working Yet?

99

(2)

A Defense of the Existing Research on WIC

101

(8)

Barbara L. Devaney

What is Selection Bias, and how Does It Affect What We Know about WIC?

102

(3)

What Do We Know about How WIC Affects Infants and Children?

105

(1)

Where Do We Go from Here?

106

(2)

Summary

108

(1)

Enhancing WIC's Effectiveness

109

(20)

Robert Greenstein

What Have Policymakers Understood and Program Proponents Said?

110

(2)

The Research Findings

112

(5)

Other Claims about the WIC Program

117

(4)

Policy Recommendations

121

(8)

Notes

129

(22)

References

151

(12)

Index

163

(8)

About the Authors and the Contributors

171

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Rethinking WIC An Evalution of the Women, Infants, and Children Program

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials