224725 Impact of changes to the WIC food package in corner stores in Hartford, CT

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Katie S. Martin, PhD , Cicats, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT
Erin Havens, MPH, MPA , Center for Public Health & Health Policy, University of Connecticut, East Hartford, CT
Limited access to healthy food in low-income, minority communities has been well documented. A potential source of healthy foods, particularly in small corner stores, is through the WIC program. After nearly 40 years, the WIC food package was revised in October, 2009 to include fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and replacing whole milk with low-fat milk for women and children over age two. We conducted a natural experiment to compare availability of these items between WIC and non-WIC certified stores in Hartford, CT before and after the food package revisions. We hypothesize that WIC certified stores will have greater availability of healthy food items after the October food package revisions. We conducted store inventories in 56 corner stores from January to March 2009 and again from October to November 2009. We measured differences using paired t-tests, chi-square tests, and regression analyses. Preliminary results show significant differences between WIC and non-WIC stores on availability of fresh fruits (p<.01), whole wheat bread (p<.01), and brown rice (p<.01) but no significant differences in vegetable availability. Before the policy change, WIC-certified stores were significantly more likely to sell low-fat milk (1% or less) and this difference increased after the October change. The percent of WIC stores selling low-fat milk increased from 63% to 94% after October, compared to 32% of non-WIC stores (p=.01). Among all stores, total fruit availability decreased for 11% of stores, remained the same for 34% and increased for 45%. WIC certification contributes to greater availability of healthy foods in corner stores. Policy changes either at the local, state or national level can provide a powerful impact on increasing healthy food availability in disadvantaged communities.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the prevalence of healthy food availability in small markets in Hartford, CT. 2. Explain changes to the national WIC program food package. 3. Describe differences between WIC and non-WIC certified stores in their availability of healthy food items. 4. Discuss implications of the WIC change on healthy food availability.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conducted and oversaw all aspects of the data collection and analyses for this research. My training is in Nutrition Science and Policy. For the past 2 1/2 years I have examined the food environment in Hartford markets, including qualitative and quantitative research.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.