Manifest and Latent Functions of Wic

Due to the stratification in the American social system and constant existence of the poor

the government has set up certain welfare programs to help out the lower working class and poor.

Among these programs, WIC was developed. WIC is a supplemental nutrition program that

provides nutritious food, nutrition counseling, and referrals to health and other social services to

participants at no charge. It is a federally funded program for which congress authorizes a

specific amount of funding each year for operations. The Food and Nutrition Service provides

these funds to WIC state agencies in which they distribute special WIC foods, nutrition

counseling and education, and administrative costs. (Caan 1997)

WIC provides services nation wide through all fifty states, thirty three Indian Tribal

Organizations, District of Colombia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These eighty-

eight WIC state agencies administer the program through 2,200 local agencies and 9,000 clinic

sites. (Caan 1997) More than 7.5 million people get WIC benefits each month. In 1974, the first

year WIC was permanently authorized, 88,000 people participated. By 1980, participation was

estimated at 1.9 million recipients and by 1900, 4.5 million. During the fiscal year of 2003, 7.63

million people received some form of WIC. Of all eligible women, infants, and children, the

program is estimated to serve about 93%. (Caan 1997) WIC services are provided in county

health departments, hospitals, mobile clinics (vans), community centers, schools, public housing

sites, churches, and migrant health centers and camps. In communities nation wide, there is

usually a posting in newspapers of the times and locations of clinics to keep all interested,

informed.

Pregnant or postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five are eligible for WIC.

Candidate recipients must meet income guidelines, a state residency requirement, and be

individually determined to be at "nutrition risk" by a health professional. Two major types of

nutrition risks are recognized by WIC, which leads to eligibility. The first is medically-based

risks such as anemia, being underweight, overweight, a history of pregnancy complications,

and/or poor pregnancy outcomes. The second risk is dietary, such as failure to meet the dietary

guidelines or inappropriate nutrition practices. Nutrition risk is determined by a health

professional such as a physician, nutritionist, or nurse, and is aided on federal guidelines.

(Heimendigner, 1994)

In regards to choice of health professionals, such as physicians and nutritionist, one latent

function of WIC that is commonly overlooked is the fact that their clients may be forced to retain

services from professionals who are "poorly trained" or "too incompetent to attract more affluent

clients." (Gans) This may be said due to the fact that the middle and upper class society may

choose to go to special and private clinics, which are more expensive and generally only run by

doctors and professionals who are highly respected and prominent in society. This practice keeps

the social gap in society visible, in terms of health care.

In most WIC state agencies, WIC participants receive checks or vouchers to purchase

specific foods each month that are designed to supplement their diets. A few state agencies

distribute the WIC foods through warehouses or deliver the foods to participant's homes. The

food provided are high in one or more of the following nutrients: protein, calcium, iron, and the

vitamins A and C. These are the nutrients frequently lacking in the diets of the program's target

population. Different food packages are provided for different categories of participants. WIC

foods include iron-fortified infant formula and infant cereal, iron-fortified adult cereal, vitamin

C-rich fruit or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, dried beans/peas, tuna fish and

carrots. Special therapeutic infant formulas and medical foods are provided when prescribed by

a physician for a special medical condition. (Kennedy, 1992)

There are certain people who get first priority when it comes to WIC programs. WIC

cannot serve all the eligible people, so a system of priorities has been established for filling

program openings. (Gordon, 1995) Once a local WIC agency has reached its maximum caseload,

vacancies are filled in the order of the following priority levels: Pregnant women, breast-feeding

women, and infants determined to be at nutrition risk because of a nutrition-related