Women, Infants, And Children (WIC Nutrition)

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program - Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

Benton County WIC program provides the following services:

• Monthly vouchers for specific nutritious foods
• Nutrition and Physical activity education and counseling (individual and group classes)
• Breast pumps (in specific circumstances)
• Breastfeeding Education and support
• Individual growth and health assessments
• Summer farmer’s market coupons for fruits and vegetables
• Referrals to other health programs like immunization, prenatal, and other social service programs
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WIC provides services to

• Pregnant women
• Breastfeeding women with children under 12 months of age
• Non-breastfeeding women with children under 6 months of age
• Infants and children under 5 years of age
• Father, grandparents, foster parents or other guardians may apply for WIC for their children

How WIC helps

• Women on the WIC program have access to healthy foods, breastfeeding support, receive prenatal care earlier, and generally have healthier babies
• WIC provides a unique set of services to help families give their children a healthy start
• WIC helps support healthy pregnancies
• Decrease the number of low birth weight infants
• Helps prevent chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease
• Infants born to WIC mothers weigh more at birth, grow and develop better
• Children on WIC eat foods with more iron and vitamin C, visit their doctors more regularly and receive their shots on time

Eligibility

To qualify for WIC, you must:

• Live in Oregon
• Have a household income less than 185% of federal poverty guidelines (If you currently receive TANF, Food Stamps or the Oregon Health Plan (OHP), you are automatically eligible.) 
• Have a nutritional need or risk
• The duration for which you are eligible for WIC varies:
  • Pregnant women can get WIC throughout pregnancy
  • Breastfeeding women can get WIC for up to one year after delivery
  • Women who have just given birth but are not breastfeeding can get WIC until six months after delivery
  • Children are able to receive WIC until they are 5 and are evaluated every six months to see if they are still eligible
• Do not have to be US citizen to get WIC services
   

WIC income guidelines

See Oregon WIC Program Income Guidelines for:

• Income guidelines
• Definition of “household” and “income”
• What is included in your “income” for WIC eligibility