Happy Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day!
MFHS joins the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in celebrating Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day. We thank RDNs and all nutrition professionals at MFHS for their ongoing commitment to providing expert nutrition education, and for their dedication to improving the health of the people and communities we serve.
During National Nutrition Month, MFHS is raising awareness about the public health value of the WIC Program and our Registered Dietitian Nutritionists, the compelling evidence of its success in ensuring healthy outcomes, and the strong public support for the program. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program is the nation’s premier public health nutrition program and a sound investment in insuring the health of our children. Maternal and Family Health Services administers the WIC Nutrition Program in 17 counties in Eastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest WIC provider in the state.
WIC is a preventative public health nutrition program designed to influence lifetime nutrition and health behaviors in a targeted, high-risk population. WIC provides nutrition and breastfeeding education, nutritious foods, and improved health care access to low-income pregnant women and children under age 5 with, or at risk of developing, nutrition-related health problems.
Participation in WIC improves nutrition, resulting in overall healthier pregnancies, healthier birth outcomes, and better growth and development of young children. WIC helps ensure normal physical growth for infants and children, and has been shown to improve cognitive development, reduce levels of anemia, improve access to regular health care and social services, improve diets and household health behaviors, and improve breastfeeding rates. WIC children arrive at school with a healthy foundation and ready to learn.
The scientifically based WIC food package reinforces the nutrition education provided by WIC nutritionists, and provides supplemental foods with essential nutrients. WIC approved foods include whole grains, low-fat dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables, soy and tofu, eggs, baby food, tuna, salmon, sardines, and mackerel, canned and dry beans, peanut butter, juice, and iron-fortified infant formula.
The WIC Program is a successful program that provides significant returns on investment through improved birth outcomes, healthier infant and young child development, and impressive healthcare savings. Helping young children get a healthy start through quality nutrition is especially important during the challenging economic environment so many America’s families are facing. Thank you again to our dedicated Registered Dietitian Nutritionists for helping the children in our program get a healthy start in life!