This article highlights and summarizes a policy brief written by Marianne Bitler, professor of economics at UC Davis, about Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Some previous studies have found that food insecurity and food-bank utilization increased when children age out of WIC eligibility, while others have found no such effects. In a study, Bitler and colleagues explored the spillover effects of child WIC participation on other family members’ food consumption, biomarkers, and food security.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Economics Division should expand data holdings to step up its research on how and what Americans are eating, who struggles to put food on the table, and how well federal nutrition assistance programs are working, according to a panel of experts led by UC Davis economist Marianne Bitler.