Participation in federal nutrition program in Texas drops 23.1% over 5 years

The number of Texas residents taking part in the federal nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) declined 23.1 percent from fiscal years 2015 to 2019, the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service reported.

The participants receiving supplemental nutritional benefits numbered 886,409 in FY 2015, compared to 681,555 in FY 2019, a drop of 204,854. As a percentage of population, the decrease in Texas was the 11th largest among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

To qualify for WIC, pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children up to 5 years old, must not come from households whose incomes exceed 185 percent of the U.S. poverty threshold. For a family of four, a household cannot earn more than $47,638 annually to take part in the program.

Participants also must be deemed at “nutritional risk.” The risk may involve medical conditions such as being underweight or having anemia, or they can result from poor diet, according to the Food and Nutrition Service.

Nationwide, WIC participation declined 20.2 percent over the five-year period, from just over 8 million in FY 2015 to 6.4 million in FY 2019. That’s a drop of more than 1.6 million participants, according to federal data released in January.

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WIC Participation Rates, State by State

State / Indian Tribe	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019 (Preliminary)	Participation Decrease, FY 2015 to FY 2019	% Decrease, FY 2015 to FY 2019	% Decrease Rank
Wyoming	10,995	10,783	10,159	9,062	7,961	3,034	27.6%	1
New Mexico	55,234	51,902	49,975	46,187	40,487	14,747	26.7%	2
California	1,265,005	1,174,875	1,080,241	1,009,492	929,173	335,832	26.5%	3
Illinois	247,594	225,159	211,367	199,360	182,341	65,253	26.4%	4
South Carolina	114,562	107,257	99,332	92,153	84,596	29,966	26.2%	5
Utah	58,995	56,584	53,748	48,989	43,646	15,349	26.0%	6
Tennessee	150,116	143,730	136,303	127,814	112,155	37,961	25.3%	7
Idaho	40,506	39,010	36,526	33,717	31,000	9,506	23.5%	8
Georgia	264,299	253,653	237,224	217,695	202,915	61,384	23.2%	9
Washington	176,133	168,878	157,453	145,015	135,297	40,836	23.2%	10
Texas	886,409	859,819	821,873	746,246	681,555	204,854	23.1%	11
Kansas	62,850	58,955	54,135	50,681	48,536	14,314	22.8%	12
West Virginia	41,701	40,391	38,315	35,412	32,674	9,027	21.6%	13
Virginia	139,632	132,404	122,185	113,952	109,469	30,163	21.6%	14
Ohio	244,201	234,719	221,746	208,955	192,574	51,627	21.1%	15
Missouri	134,780	127,551	119,620	114,323	106,733	28,047	20.8%	16
Arkansas	84,220	80,555	76,519	73,607	67,231	16,989	20.2%	17
Louisiana	128,935	127,387	119,747	112,362	103,170	25,765	20.0%	18
Maine	21,781	20,806	19,364	18,320	17,475	4,306	19.8%	19
New York	471,869	459,101	435,382	416,173	378,946	92,923	19.7%	20
Nevada	73,144	70,467	66,625	62,531	58,744	14,400	19.7%	21
Hawaii	31,616	30,117	26,856	26,115	25,415	6,201	19.6%	22
Kentucky	116,179	111,926	107,885	101,743	94,296	21,883	18.8%	23
Alaska	19,682	19,121	18,188	17,092	15,978	3,704	18.8%	24
Oklahoma	112,892	110,725	105,846	98,551	91,650	21,242	18.8%	25
District of Columbia	14,526	14,363	13,580	12,466	11,844	2,682	18.5%	26
Pennsylvania	245,979	237,205	226,060	218,188	202,167	43,812	17.8%	27
Vermont	13,733	12,756	11,558	11,427	11,321	2,412	17.6%	28
Oregon	98,304	92,792	89,534	85,774	81,226	17,078	17.4%	29
New Hampshire	14,705	14,121	13,064	12,332	12,163	2,542	17.3%	30
Wisconsin	105,504	100,152	95,958	92,487	87,666	17,838	16.9%	31
North Carolina	248,860	241,288	230,660	221,719	207,351	41,509	16.7%	32
New Jersey	161,664	155,285	147,937	141,568	134,936	26,728	16.5%	33
Minnesota	119,403	116,031	111,121	105,961	100,123	19,280	16.1%	34
Michigan	244,829	234,546	224,106	213,964	205,364	39,465	16.1%	35
Arizona	167,072	163,998	153,510	149,513	141,959	25,113	15.0%	36
Montana	18,476	18,296	17,445	16,682	15,754	2,722	14.7%	37
Maryland	142,841	139,576	132,843	128,542	122,569	20,272	14.2%	38
South Dakota	19,474	19,120	18,367	17,667	16,730	2,744	14.1%	39
Delaware	18,998	18,097	17,162	16,797	16,358	2,640	13.9%	40
Rhode Island	20,728	20,375	19,501	18,950	17,962	2,766	13.3%	41
Alabama	132,133	129,160	123,993	120,605	115,410	16,723	12.7%	42
Mississippi	89,449	84,867	83,857	85,449	79,106	10,343	11.6%	43
Florida	483,811	481,520	468,867	450,624	429,378	54,433	11.3%	44
Connecticut	51,295	49,155	47,830	47,297	45,767	5,528	10.8%	45
Indiana	154,485	147,906	143,975	143,730	138,611	15,874	10.3%	46
Colorado	90,954	86,999	84,582	85,258	81,906	9,048	9.9%	47
Nebraska	37,601	38,125	37,440	35,833	33,989	3,612	9.6%	48
Massachusetts	113,262	114,419	112,763	108,593	103,315	9,947	8.8%	49
Iowa	63,481	61,163	61,996	60,249	58,064	5,417	8.5%	50
North Dakota	12,415	12,884	12,729	12,313	11,405	1,010	8.1%	51
TOTAL	8,023,742	7,696,439	7,286,161	6,870,128	6,400,238	1,623,504	20.2%	—

Source: U.S. Food and Nutrition Service

This article was first published by The Center Square.

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