By Dr. Ferrell Miller
The JC Breakfast Optimist Club’s guest speaker on June 23 was Kellie Bentley, who is the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Coordinator at the Geary County Health Department. Kellie explained that the WIC program is a federally funded program through the US Department of Agriculture and is income based. WIC has four core areas to serve pregnant women. The four core areas are nutrition education; breast feeding support; healthy food choices and social services.
Expectant mothers are taught about healthy food choices for the mother and the infant. “Good nutrition has long-term benefits for both”, Kellie stated. Breast feeding support is another part of the core support areas for pregnant women. There is research to support breast feeding, which provides abundant and easily absorbed nutritional components, enzymes, immune properties, and live anti-bodies from the mother. Kellie also shared that “some of the social services provided by WIC include immunizations screening, financial advice, networking with pediatricians, dentists, counseling for substance and/or spousal abuse and more. Fifty-three percent of all infants in the United States are included in the WIC program. The average yearly income is slightly over $18,600.”
Kellie also stated that “some of the obstacles for pregnant women include access to healthy foods, a belief in the value of eating together as a family and making time to share healthy foods at home. Sometimes mothers must work multiple jobs and cooking healthy foods is a challenge. It is easier to go grab fast food and consider the time spent eating a quick meal as quality time.” The mission of the WIC program is to “safe- guard the health of low-income women, infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating and referrals for health care.”
For more information about WIC, contact Kelley Bentley at 785-762-5822.