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WIC Obesity Rates Fall

KWGS News

 

 

 

Obesity rates declined for young children in a federal government program that provides them with healthy food. Oklahoma mirrors a trend across the country.

In Oklahoma, more than 83,000 infants, and young children participate in WIC, which provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income women and children who are at nutritional risk.

The newest data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of children with obesity in the program declined from over 15 percent down to 13 percent, ranking the state 32nd in the nation. 

Across the nation, approximately 6.3 million people used WIC in 2018, including nearly half of all infants born in the United States.