The Impact of WIC Package Change on Breastfeeding and Gestational Weight Gain

In this study, we investigate whether 2009 revisions to the food package provided as part of the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) were successful in increasing breastfeeding initiation and improving gestational weight gain among program participants. The WIC program had been largely unchanged since inception, and the 2009 revisions were intended to align the food package with nutritional guidelines and to provide stronger breastfeeding incentives. We use South Carolina natality data for 2004-2014 supplemented with administrative records from South Carolina WIC offices. To estimate the causal effect of the program change we rely on several estimation techniques, including a difference-in-difference analysis in the context of panel data, as well as examining changes in outcomes of the same mothers participating in the WIC program before and after the revision. Preliminary results suggest that the WIC program revisions had small but statistically significant impacts on both breastfeeding initiation and gestational weight gain, suggesting that the WIC program is a potentially viable way to influence positive maternal behaviors.