The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program is a federally funded, statewide program that helps to ensure good nutrition for pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants and children under 5 years of age. AVH sponsors the program for the Antelope Valley region.
The goals of the WIC program are to:
- Reduce pregnancy complications
- Reduce iron deficiency (anemia) in women, infants and children
- Decrease the incidence of low birth weight in infants
- Promote optimum growth and development in infants and young children
- Encourage healthy eating and increased activity to reduce the incidence of obesity
- The AVH WIC program works to meet these goals by providing participants with vouchers for nutritious foods, teaching about nutrition and providing access and referrals to important health care resources.
Eligibility for WIC benefits is based on income. In addition, you must live within the AVH service area (the Antelope Valley north to Kern County, east to San Bernadino and south to Canyon County), and be at medical or nutritional risk as determined by a health care professional.
When established in 1984, the AVH WIC program served 284 women, infants and children. Today, the program sees approximately 13,000 participants each month. In 2004 alone, it helped ensure better nutrition for nearly 151,000 local residents.
To learn more about the AVH WIC program, please call (661) 949-5805.
