November 2, 2021.
National Center for Health Research’s Comments on Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s draft systematic review on Maternal and Child Outcomes Associated with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
We are writing to express our views on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) draft systematic review on Maternal and Child Outcomes Associated with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
The National Center for Health Research (NCHR) is a nonprofit think tank that conducts, analyzes, and scrutinizes research on a range of health issues, with particular focus on which prevention strategies and treatments are most effective for which patients and consumers. We do not accept funding from companies that make products that are the subject of our work, so we have no conflicts of interest.
We endorse the systematic review of WIC, an important program that aims to safeguard the health of low-income, nutritionally at-risk pregnant and postpartum women and children under the age of 5 years old. We applaud that the review examined both qualitative and quantitative studies in an effort to get a full picture of the relationship between WIC use and various health outcomes. It is valuable that the review assesses health outcomes for mothers as well as children, ranging from gestational diabetes to infant mortality to cognitive scores for children.
We also appreciate the discussion regarding the limitations of the report. For example, not all studies analyzed the association of WIC participation and outcomes by subgroup, such as employment or housing status. The systematic review addresses the shortcomings of current research, such as the need for more subgroup analyses, as well as more details about benefit insurance and the duration of WIC participation. We hope that future research will collect and analyze this information.
The National Center for Health Research can be reached at info@center4research.org or at (202) 223-4000.