WIC Households' Participation in Multiple Nutrition Assistance Programs and Household Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate associations between multiple nutrition assistance program participation and household food insecurity (HFI).

METHODS

Cross-sectional survey among Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants in Los Angeles County in 2020 (n = 5,184). We fitted covariate-adjusted Poisson regression models to investigate associations between multiple program participation and HFI.

RESULTS

In addition to WIC, 66% of households participated in ≥ 1 other program. Compared with WIC-only households, households who participated in WIC + Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, prepandemic enrollment prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.28 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09-1.50]; during pandemic enrollment PR = 1.75 [95% CI, 1.47-2.08]) or in WIC + pandemic electronic benefit transfer + SNAP (prepandemic PR = 1.30 [95% CI, 1.11-1.52]; during pandemic PR = 1.51 [95% CI, 1.26-1.80]) had higher relative prevalence of HFI.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: HFI was high during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, particularly among families participating in SNAP in addition to WIC, potentially from self-selection of households with HFI into multiple programs. Increases in benefits may be necessary to alleviate HFI.