The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutritious foods, nutrition counseling, and referrals to health and social services at no charge to the participants.
 | You are pregnant |
| You are breastfeeding or you have had a baby in the last six months |
| You have infants or children up to five years old |
| You meet income guidelines |
Call for more information and the location of a clinic closest to you.
| Eaton County (517) 541-2630 |
| Barry County (269) 945-9516 |
| The program serves low and moderate-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 who have a nutrition-related health problem. |
| The program provides a combination of nutrition education, supplemental foods, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care. |
| WIC foods are selected to meet nutrient needs such as calcium, iron, folic acid, vitamins A&C. |
| Participants utilize the electronic benefits card at approved retail grocery stores and pharmacies. |
The WIC Program strongly encourages and provides support for breastfeeding. For women who choose not to breastfeed, iron-fortified formula is available for the first year of life. Beginning at six months of age, infants may also receive infant cereal and fruit juices.
Pregnant and postpartum women and children (under 5 years of age) participating in WIC receive an electronic benefits card for milk, cheese, eggs, cereal, peanut butter or dried beans or peas, and fruit or vegetable juices. Women who exclusively breastfeed their babies may also receive carrots and canned tuna fish in addition to the other foods.
The WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), also known as Project FRESH, provides eligible WIC participants with coupons to purchase locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets. WIC participants receive these nutrition benefits in addition to their WIC food package and nutrition education.
The program partners with the Michigan State University Extension, local farmers and farmer’s markets to promote healthy eating and fruit and vegetable consumption.
WIC nutrition education assists WIC participants with:
| Infant feeding |
| Breastfeeding |
| Prenatal weight gain |
| Anemia |
| Child growth and development and other nutrition related health issues. |
Registered dietitians at WIC provide individualized high-risk nutrition counseling for participants with special medical conditions or nutrition-related issues.
WIC refers participants for health care, immunizations, substance abuse counseling, prenatal care, smoking cessation, lead screening, health insurance and more.
| Every WIC dollar spent on a pregnant woman saves more than three dollars in subsequent health care costs. |
| The earlier a woman receives nutritional benefits from WIC, the more likely she is to seek prenatal care and deliver a normal weight infant. |
| One out of every two babies born in Michigan receives WIC benefits. |
| WIC participation lowers the rate of anemia among children. |
| WIC significantly improves children’s dietary intake. |
| 4- and 5- year-olds that participated in WIC in early childhood have better vocabularies and digit memory scores than comparable children who did not participate in WIC do. |
| WIC participation leads to higher rates of immunization against childhood diseases. |
WIC is an equal opportunity program. Persons who believe they have been discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability should write to the Secretary of Agriculture, USDA, Washington, D.C. 20250.
