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Report says a second Trump term would add 4 billion tons of climate pollution; Trump predicts a bloodbath for the country if he is defeated in November's election; Nevada leaders discuss future of IVF, abortion in the Silver State; and anglers seek trawler buffer zone as Atlantic herring stock declines.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

WIC Marks 40 Years of Helping Illinois' Most Vulnerable

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Wednesday, April 23, 2014   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - For decades, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) has helped some of Illinois' most vulnerable residents, and state leaders are celebrating its 40th anniversary.

WIC provides food to help meet the nutritional needs of pregnant women, new mothers and children through age 5. State WIC director Penny Roth said Illinois was one of the first states to offer WIC services.

"It started with eight local agencies and 12,000 participants," she said, "and today, we have 97 local agencies and we're serving 280,000 low-income women, infants and children."

Roth, chief of the Bureau of Family Nutrition with the Illinois Department of Human Services, said WIC's goal is to improve health outcomes, so the program also includes nutrition education and counseling, support for breastfeeding moms, and health screenings for eligible families. She said this combination of services ensures a healthy beginning for the next generation. It's estimated that almost 40 percent of all babies born in Illinois are WIC participants.

Roth maintains that WIC's greatest success is its educational outreach.

"Providing the right kind of food for babies and the right nutrition information for moms that are feeding babies is a very important part of the WIC program," she said.

Roth said research shows that WIC has been successful in reducing fetal deaths, infant mortality, low birth-weight rates and iron-deficiency anemia in children, and also has prompted more parents to immunize their children.


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