Phase I of the study provided a comprehensive, nationally representative description of WIC nutrition education policies, practices, and features in 2014, based on surveys of local WIC agencies and sites and in-depth interviews with a subset of these sites (USDA, FNS, 2016).
Phase II was a methodological study, conducted in six sites during 2015–2016, to test an approach to determine its feasibility for a national evaluation. The Phase II study included (1) a process evaluation that characterized the delivery of WIC nutrition education and (2) an impact evaluation that used a longitudinal, exposure-response design to assess the influence of WIC nutrition education on participants’ nutrition and physical activity attitudes and behaviors. The study was intended to determine if this approach could be used in a national evaluation study. Results indicate that a national study may not be feasible, but that other approaches may achieve similar goals on a smaller scale.
