[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 8681] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]WOMEN, INFANTS, AND CHILDREN (WIC) PROGRAM CONTINUES TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH CARE OF MILLIONS ______ HON. JAMES P. MORAN of virginia in the house of representatives Wednesday, May 5, 1999 Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as a cochair of the Congressional Prevention Coalition, I stand in strong support today of a program that makes a tremendous contribution to disease prevention and health promotion. The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program has been educating woman and children about basic nutrition that can help them lead healthier, and therefor happier lives. Chronic disease is the cause of 70 percent of deaths in the United States and nutrition is a primary form of prevention for chronic disease. Nutrition education can start very early in life. WIC educators help expectant mothers to give their babies good nutrition, even before they are born, through prenatal counseling and care. After the baby is born, WIC educators continue to serve low income women, infants and children with pediatric health care services and nutrition education. WIC educators help babies get a healthy start on life through breastfeeding education and support. The first food a baby gets could be the most important. Breastfeeding is almost always the best form of nutrition for a baby and WIC educators help mothers to learn the wide benefits of breastfeeding including its nutrition and excellent source of antibodies that protect against infection. The preventive care that WIC provides saves us money in the long run. the National Association of WIC Directors estimates that for every dollar spent on pregnant women in the WIC program, we save $1.92 to $4.21 in Medicaid costs. For every low birth weight prevented as a result of WIC's prenatal program, Medicaid costs are reduced $12,000 to $15,000 per infant. More importantly, WIC works in helping low-income mothers and children to live healthy lives. For example, according to CDC, WIC children showed a 16-percent decrease in the anemia rate at their 6- month recertification screening than in their initial screening. WIC babies have fewer low birth weight babies and fewer fetal and infant deaths. WIC also helps spur normal childhood growth, increases immunization rates, improves access to pediatric health care and readies children to learn with proven higher test scores. I want to thank the National Association of WIC directors and all of those at WIC who do so much in improving the health care needs of the millions of women, infants, and children who participate in this lifesaving program. Thank you for 25 years of vital work and service. ____________________