Arly and others have commented on WIC and how cereal and other foods are
dispensed. Cereal is given at 4 months because it was authorized by Congress and
appears in the law as one of the approved food packages. Food package II
includes 31 cans of concentrated liquid formula, infant cereal, and up to 96 ounces
of fruit juice. The cereal is supposed to be started at 6 months according to
most health authorities. WIC recommendeds that the juice be fed to the infant
by cup and that the juice not be issued until the baby can drink from a cup
(sometime after 6 months). Fruit juice has no nutrtional value and is nothing
more than sugar water that displaces milk, makes babies and children fat, and
rots out their teeth.

I wrote an article on remodeling the WIC prgram that appeared in the May 2002
issue of the Journal of Human Lactation. In it I discussed that if people
want changes they need to work with WIC at the Federal level as well as Congress
to change these food packages. The juice industry and cereal makers have a
prominent presence in the halls of Congress and at the USDA. WIC was just
reauthorized with $20 million going to peer counseling. A far cry from the $1.2
billion spent on infant formula before rebates.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

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