As a WIC nutrition counselor and Breastfeeding Coordinator who trains peer counselor and teaches them communication skills I have to comment on the statement that "No one likes to be told how to eat and live their lives......WIC personnel often do not realize how they are turning people off...." First of all WIC is a volunarty program for nutritional education, it's is not another food stamp program as many people, participants and others believe. If the counseling turns them off so much they don't have to participate! The purpose of giving the WIC foods is to help the mother put the education we give her into action both by using the foods we give her and by saving her money by not having to buy these foods to enable her to buy other nutritious foods. Also there are good counselors and bad counselors. Okay, I have heard plenty of bad counseling that I also would be turned off by, BUT WIC nutritional counseling should be like breastfeeding counseling. A good breastfeeding counselor and a good WIC nutrition counselor will not tell the mother what she should do, but rather teach the mother enough facts and give her enough information and suggestions so she can make better choices about what to do and if she makes one of the correct choices that works she feels empowered and better about herself. Thank you Linda Smith for your comments about WIC If my comments seem to be "after the fact" old hat stuff it's because I'm still so behind in reading all my lactnet digests. Jill Meltzer, R.N. Breastfeeding Coordinator