The Natural Products Association (NPA) recently submitted comments to the Institute of Medicine advocating for expanding access to vitamins for low-income mothers and children. NPA submitted its comments as part of a Congressionally mandated study that will examine the impact of expanding the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) to cover certain vitamin and mineral products.

“Programs like WIC are a critical benefit for millions of families, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t look for ways to expand the program, because every child in our community and across the country deserves the same opportunity at a healthy and successful life, regardless of income,” said Dan Fabricant, PhD, executive director and CEO of NPA. “NPA urges the Institute of Medicine to consider including multivitamin supplements under the WIC program.”

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently released a study concluding that Americans in or near poverty are not improving their diets as quickly as more affluent Americans. The percentage of lower income Americans with poor diets declined from 68 percent in 2003 and 2004 to 61 percent in 2011 and 2012. For more affluent Americans, the rate declined from 50 percent to 36 percent.

NPA also requested that the period for evaluation of foods made eligible to WIC participants be made more frequent than once every 10 years. “A decade is too long to evaluate research and bring about fundamental and needed changes in the WIC program, offer newer and updated education, and expand greater options to address serious deficiencies in the population,” said Fabricant.

Expanding the WIC program to allow mothers and fathers to purchase vitamin and nutritional supplements to help their young and growing children get the nutrients they need is one way that we can do more for lower income Americans. Vitamins are proven to have many health benefits that are especially relevant to those individuals the WIC program intends to help. They can:

• Prevent classic nutrient deficiency diseases (scurvy, pellagra, and iron deficiency anemia)
• Improve appetite and growth rates in low-income children
• Prevent neural tube birth defects
• Protect against heart disease and stroke
• Build bone mass in the young

NPA’s comments can be viewed here.

For more information, visit www.npainfo.org.