Context and Importance
In recent years, obesity has become a common nutritional concern among low-
income women and their preschool aged children. This population is a primary target
population of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC). Nutrition counseling efforts in WIC focus on childhood obesity, but
there is a need for new policies and approaches that address the different perceptions
about obesity held by clients and health care professionals. One in four women who are
low-income are obese before even becoming pregnant.1 According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 33% of adults who did not graduate from high school
were obese, in comparison with the 21% of those who graduated from college or
technical college being obese.2 In regards to children, one in three kids who are low-
income will become overweight or obese by the time they are five years old. These
obesity rates are affecting millions of children and their families, all because of
socioeconomic status. Low-income families have limited or no access to healthy foods
and areas in which to be physically active, which contributes to obesity rates. Limited
access to quality education also causes them to not understand the full benefits of eating
well, staying fit, and preventing diseases.1 Fifteen million children are living in food
insecure environments and are consuming food products that are calorie dense and
nutritionally poor.3 Participation in WIC programs is showing a reduction in obesity rates,
therefore it is important to focus our attention in improving in this area so that this
program continues to help.
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Critique
Among the global public health community and national governments, there has
been increasing recognition of the need to develop effective strategies for preventing and
controlling childhood overweight and obesity. This led the World Health Assembly to set
a target in 2012, aiming to achieve no increase in childhood overweight by 2025. In May
2014, the Director-General of WHO also established a high-level Commission on Ending
Childhood Obesity to accelerate WHO’s efforts in addressing the crisis of childhood
overweight and obesity.3 Recognizing that the early years play a critical role in
establishing the foundation for a child’s educational success and overall well-being,
voters in Arizona created First Things First (FTF) to expand young children’s access to
the services that would help them arrive at kindergarten healthy and prepared to succeed.4
FTF uses strategies that increase young children’s access to nutritious food, and that
increase the information that families and other caregivers have in order to make the best
food and activity choices for young kids.
Policy Recommendation
For a new policy regarding the issue of obesity in low-income families, focus
should be on ensuring that there is a set of nationally approved, authoritative food-based
dietary guidelines for all age groups, providing education on the improvement of
community understanding and social norms related to appropriate child growth and
development, regulating the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children,
and creating an enabling environment that promotes physical activity in order to address
3
sedentary lifestyle from the early stages of life. More specifically, the focus on continued
revision of WIC food packaging can increase the consumption of healthy foods, the state
of California found that there was an increase in the consumption of whole grains, low-
fat milk, vegetables, and fruit.5 This data supports the idea of all other states in the
country to adopt the same policy in regards to revised WIC packaging.
WIC is always looking for innovative ways to provide nutrition and health promotion
education to low-income families with a cost, and desires to help these families build the
needed skills to lead a healthy lifestyle. Introducing this evidence-proven policy to other
states will help in decrease obesity rates in low-income families.
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References
1. State of Obesity Website. Socioeconomics and Obesity. Available at:
http://stateofobesity.org/socioeconomics-obesity/ Accessed on April 2, 2017.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website. Among Low-Income
Preschool Children. Obesity Available at:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/downloads/pednssfactsheet.pdf Accessed on April 2,
2017.
3. State of Obesity Website. Obesity Rates and Trends. Available at:
http://stateofobesity.org/rates/ Accessed on April 2, 2017.
4. Firstthingsfirst.org. https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/wp-
content/uploads/2018/02/Policy_Brief_Q3-2012.pdf. Published 2020. Accessed
March 6, 2020.
5. Carlson S, Neuberger Z. WIC Works: Addressing the Nutrition and Health Needs
of Low-Income Families for 40 Years. Centers on Budget and Policy Priorities.
March 29, 2017. Available at: http://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/wic-
works-addressing-the-nutrition-and-health-needs-of-low-income-families .
Accessed on April 2, 2017.
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