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Adolescent WIC Participants Study Volume I:
Final Report
SUMMARY
OF MAJOR FINDINGS
The Adolescent WIC Participants Study was a national survey of
adolescent women enrolled in the WIC program and WIC clinic directors.
Approximately 15 percent of the women served by the WIC program are
adolescents. This study was designed to describe the characteristics of
adolescent women in WIC, as well as to identify their special needs, such
as nutrition education, referral to other agencies, and their satisfaction
with the services they received.
The Adolescent WIC Participants Study was the first national survey of
pregnant teenagers and mothers served by the WIC program. Following a
series of 24 focus groups with WIC adolescents and program staff to
clarify the study issues, the study team conducted a multi-stage survey of
297 WIC clinic directors and 2,649 adolescents, 14 to 19 years of age, who
visited WIC clinics during a 60-day period in the first half of 1997.
The response rates in the survey were 96 percent among WIC clinic
directors and 54 percent among WIC adolescents. In addition, seven states
declined to participate in the study. Taken together, the low response
rates among adolescents and the non-participation of some states, argues
for extreme caution in interpreting the study findings.
Findings:
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Approximately 73 percent of the adolescents were enrolled in WIC for the
first time
A substantial number of adolescents had not had previous contact with the
WIC program; 14.3 percent were enrolled for the second time and 4 percent
had been enrolled three or more times. About 52 percent of all adolescents
surveyed had no more than a 10th grade education.
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Pregnant adolescents enroll in WIC late in their pregnancy.
Substantial numbers of WIC adolescents fail to enroll during their first
trimester of pregnancy. Adolescents face barriers to early enrollment,
including failure to recognize that they are pregnant, lack of awareness
about WIC, reluctance to accept WIC assistance, and lack of
transportation. For adolescents, the most common source of information
about the WIC program comes from family members.
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Adolescents find nutrition education useful and helpful in improving their
nutrition and eating habits.
Adolescents report learning from nutrition education sessions and applying
what they learned. Over three-quarters (77 percent) said that their eating
habits had improved since enrolling in WIC. WIC nutrition education was
perceived to be particularly useful by Spanish-speaking Hispanic
adolescents.
WIC adolescents were especially interested in information about how to
stretch their food dollars and how to teach healthy eating habits to their
children. New mothers were interested in learning how to introduce solid
foods to their infants. Adolescents preferred individual nutrition
education and classes in which they could interact with others in their
age group, though they reported that they learned just as much from
classes with other age groups.
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WIC adolescents asked for larger and more diverse food packages.
WIC adolescents generally reported that they or their children actually
use the WIC foods they receive. They frequently desired to receive greater
quantities of WIC foods, particularly juice, cereal, cheese, milk, and
infant formula. Cultural background influences food preferences; Hispanic
adolescents more frequently reported that they would like to receive more
beans and eggs.
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Substantial proportions of WIC adolescents would like improvement in
referral to WIC-related services.
WIC adolescents reported lower referral rates to other services such as
Food Stamps or Child Immunization than WIC clinic directors. Although WIC
clinics routinely provide information materials about other services, WIC
adolescents prefer active referrals in which the clinic makes appointments
for them.
Last modified:
12/04/2008
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