Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation 

Figure 1: Prevalence of overweight risk by age in 

WIC children in 20001

Figure 2: Prevalence of overweight risk by race/

ethnicity in WIC children in 20001

 Fit WIC can help the nation’s premier early childhood food and nutrition 

program work more effectively to reduce and prevent unhealthy weight among our 

children. 

 Overweight and obesity are serious health issues in 

the United States today – and nowhere are the trends of 

greater concern than among our children. The percentage 

of young people who are overweight has more than doubled 

in the last 20 years for children aged six to eleven and almost tripled for adolescents aged 12-19. And we know that 

overweight among children is the precursor to obesity and 

its related health problems among adults. 

 What if a single program could reach the caregivers 

of one-half of all infants and one quarter of all preschoolers 

in the U.S., as well as one-third of all expectant mothers, and 

encourage and support them in maintaining a healthy lifestyle 

and a healthy weight? 

 This is the great opportunity, and the great challenge, 

facing the WIC program. WIC – the Special Supplemental 

Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children – provides nutrition information, supplemental foods, and health 

referrals to almost eight million low-income pregnant 

women, infants and children (up to age five) each month. 

We know that many of the children in the program are already overweight — 10-16%, depending on age and race/

ethnicity—or are at risk of overweight — 11-19%, depending on age or race/ethnicity. (See Figures 1 and 2.) 

 While addressing childhood overweight is not an 

easy task, the reach and focus of the WIC program offer a 

unique opportunity to reduce and prevent this problem 

Fit WIC: Programs to Prevent 

Childhood Overweight in Your 

Community: 

Final Report Summary 

Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

< 1 year 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years

Age of WIC Child

% of WIC children

Overweight At risk of overweight

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Af r i canAmer i canAsi an Hi spani c Nati ve

Amer i can

Whi te

R ace/ Ethnicity o f WIC C hild

Overweight At Risk of Overweight
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Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation 

Figure 3: Key insights learned from 

assessments of WIC participants, WIC 

staff members and the community atlarge: 

9 Parents did not perceive overweight 

as a problem for their preschool 

children 

9 Parents were knowledgeable about 

WIC’s health messages, but they 

struggled with how to put that 

knowledge into practice 

9 Parents lacked information about 

desirable activity levels for their 

families 

9 WIC families face social and economic barriers to a healthy lifestyle 

9 WIC families receive conflicting 

health messages from health care 

providers (related to a child’s 

weight) 

9 WIC staff had concerns about addressing childhood obesity with 

their participants 

9 Staff expressed a need for additional 

training on topics related to childhood overweight 

9 Staff identified institutional barriers 

to effective obesity education within 

WIC, including inadequate resources and the current WIC food 

package** 

among its participants at a time when lifelong dietary habits are being 

formed. 

 In 1999, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) launched its 

WIC Childhood Obesity Prevention Projects to identify and test ways to 

use the WIC program to better address childhood overweight. Through 

a competitive process, FNS awarded an initial $1.8 million in funding for 

cooperative agreements with WIC Agencies in California, the Intertribal 

Council of Arizona, Kentucky, Vermont, and Virginia. 

 These five Agencies developed individual projects while also sharing information and ideas over their three-year term. Dr. Patricia Crawford, co-director of The Center for Weight and Health at the University 

of California-Berkeley, assisted FNS in coordinating projects across the 

states. These projects evolved together into “Fit WIC, ” a collection of 

social-environmental strategies to promote healthy weight among children 

enrolled in WIC. 

 During the first year of the projects, each Fit WIC project team 

conducted a variety of assessments in order to develop intervention 

strategies that would be most effective in preventing childhood overweight. These assessments led to a list of key insights for program development (Figure 3). Based on these insights, the Fit WIC teams developed 

a wide variety of interventions to address prevention of overweight 

among preschool children: 

• Fit WIC California was designed to increase WIC’s influence on 

childhood overweight prevention in the community. The project 

included many intervention strategies that focused on WIC staff, 

WIC participants, and the community-at-large. The program was 

successful in integrating physical activity into the WIC program and 

improving the health behaviors of WIC staff members. The team 

received a $300,000 grant to develop a community garden and they 

partnered with local restaurants to encourage more fruit and vegetable consumption. 

• The Fit WIC program in the Intertribal Council of Arizona approached overweight prevention on many levels. This intervention 

was designed for WIC staff, WIC caregivers, and WIC children. Fit 

WIC sites offered children’s programs, including physical activities 

**In April 2005, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report with recommendations for changes to the WIC food package, based on an independent 

review requested by FNS. The report, entitled “WIC Food Packages: Time for Change,” is currently being reviewed by FNS. 
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Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation 

and creating healthy snacks, twice per month. By the end of the study period, WIC staff 

members were more confident in their ability to work with caregivers of WIC children. 

Staff members also improved their own nutrition and physical activity behaviors during the 

study. 

• The Fit WIC Kentucky team created a video for WIC staff 

members and health care professionals designed to change 

perceptions about childhood obesity and help staff members to understand the problem from a client’s perspective. 

The video, along with a group discussion afterward, led to a 

greater understanding of barriers and solutions to the 

childhood overweight epidemic. 

• The goal of Fit WIC Vermont was to increase active playtime and 

decrease sedentary time for three- and four-year-olds. They developed a Fit WIC activity kit, including an instructional booklet for 

parents, a beach ball, small bean bags, and a cassette tape of children’s play songs. Parents were very happy with the activity kit 

and reported that their children were still frequently using it several months later. 

• Fit WIC Virginia was designed to 

prevent childhood overweight by 

improving related parenting skills. 

They developed six key messages 

for parents about foods, beverages, physical activity, and television-viewing, then focused on 

these messages during group 

classes. WIC staff members were encouraged to serve as 

positive role models, so the Fit WIC program included 

regular wellness challenges for them, as well. By the end of 

the study period, parents who participated in Fit WIC reported offering water (rather than soft drinks) to their children more often and using community centers more often. 

The teams also developed the following recommendations that could help WIC contribute significantly to the nation’s efforts to prevent childhood overweight: 

• Increase use of participant-centered assessment and education procedures—take time to 

learn what participants actually need and then act on those specific needs 

• Adopt physical activity as an essential element of nutrition assessment and education—

remember that exercise goes hand-in-hand with nutrition for optimal weight and health 

• Encourage WIC staff to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors, as role models for participants 

What WIC Can Do Now: 
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Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation 

The full Final Report of Fit WIC: Programs to Prevent Childhood Overweight in Your Community (1999-2002) can 

be found on the USDA FNS website at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Published/WIC/WIC.htm . 

This website also provides access to a current bibliography of research publications that have stemmed from 

the Fit WIC project. 

In addition, The Implementation Manual for the Fit WIC Childhood Overweight Prevention Project, along with more 

detailed information about the specific State Agency interventions can be accessed through the WIC Works 

website at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/wicworks/Sharing_Center/statedev_FIT.html

For More Information: 

Endnotes 

1

 Data in Figures 1 and 2 are from an internal FNS analysis using participant information collected from State WIC agencies in April 2000 for the report, “WIC 

Participant and Program Characteristics 2000,” WIC-02-PC, by Susan Bartlett, Ramona Olvera, Nicole Gill, and Michelle Laramie. Project Officer, Julie Kresge. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation, Alexandria, VA: 2002. http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/

menu/published/WIC/files/pc2000/pdf (accessed 3 June 03). 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, 

religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenues, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or 

call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

• Change the focus of participant education from weight to healthy lifestyle—remember that overall 

health is the ultimate goal 

• Coordinate and align with nutrition education interventions in other programs through State Nutrition Action Plans. 

• Expand and update training for WIC staff—provide training on successful counseling strategies and 

current nutrition science related to weight and health 

• Offer wellness opportunities at work for WIC staff to facilitate healthy eating and exercise 

• Establish partnerships with community agencies to develop comprehensive community-wide interventions—(work together to unify and reinforce health messages) 

• Increase staffing levels in WIC so that more staff time can be devoted to individual counseling and 

group education 

• Fund additional research to evaluate the impact of obesity prevention initiatives in the WIC setting—

increase funding at the national level to support research at the state and local levels 

• Continue to explore potential improvements in the WIC food package—(The National Academies’ 

Institute of Medicine has recently provided recommendations for change) 

More That WIC Can Do: