By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

The Livingston County Public Health Department has been offering the Women, Infant and Children program, better known as WIC, since 1981, but what is WIC?

Registered Nurse Kathy Kennell explains.

“WIC is a federal supplemental nutrition program through the USDA. It is based on household income and it provides healthy foods and nutrition and education to pregnant, breastfeeding or post partum women, as well as to infants and children from ages one to five. WIC provides a lot of breastfeeding education and support to breastfeeding mothers, but if breastfeeding is not successful, WIC can provide some supplemental formula. Actually, about 53 percent of US infants born use the WIC program,” Kennell said.

For more information about WIC, the forum with Kennell is available at wjez.com, or you can call the health department at 844-7174.