WIC Program Celebrates Breastfeeding Awareness Month

 

Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services (HCPHES) Emerald Plaza WIC Center will host a reception honoring breastfeeding mothers on August 15th to celebrate World Breastfeeding Awareness Month.  The reception will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the WIC Center located at 11509 Veterans Memorial Drive, Suite 400.  The event will feature a breastfeeding discussion, games, prizes and food.  Anyone wishing to learn more about breastfeeding is invited.

 

Each year during August, health officials such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Texas Department of State Health Services spotlight the benefits of breastfeeding.  This year’s theme, Breastfeeding, It’s Perfectly Natural, focuses on increasing public support and acceptance of breastfeeding as the recommended practice for infant feeding.  It will be used in Texas’ Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition clinics to educate clients and the community about the positive impact breastfeeding has on child health.

 

Breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for babies in addition to many other benefits such as:

• helping them form strong immune systems to fight illness
• fewer ear infections, incidences of diarrhea, and upper respiratory diseases
• a decreased risk of developing chronic diseases later in life including obesity, diabetes and asthma
• promoting optimal cognitive development for the child

 

In addition, mothers who breastfeed their babies also receive health benefits including reduced risks of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.

              

The WIC Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, is a federally funded program that provides nutrition education and food vouchers to pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five who have a nutritional need.  Referrals to health care resources are also a part of the services provided by WIC.

 

A family of four with working family members may earn as much as $37,000 annually and still qualify for WIC services.  Often working parents who do not qualify for other kinds of assistance are eligible for WIC.

 

For more information about WIC or to make an appointment, call HCPHES Emerald Plaza WIC Center at (281) 444-0764.

 

 

 

WIC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM.  STANDARDS FOR ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WIC PROGRAM ARE THE SAME FOR EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF SEX, RACE, COLOR, CREED, AGE, NATIONAL ORIGIN, DISABILITY, OR POLITICAL BELIEFS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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WIC Program Celebrates Breastfeeding Awareness Month

 

Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services (HCPHES) Decker Drive WIC Center will host a reception honoring breastfeeding mothers on August 15th to celebrate World Breastfeeding Awareness Month.  The reception will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the WIC Center located at 4204 Decker Drive.  The event will feature a breastfeeding discussion, games, prizes and food.  Anyone wishing to learn more about breastfeeding is invited.

 

Each year during August health officials such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Texas Department of State Health Services spotlight the benefits of breastfeeding.  This year’s theme, Breastfeeding, It’s Perfectly Natural, focuses on increasing public support and acceptance of breastfeeding as the recommended practice for infant feeding.  It will be used in Texas’ Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition clinics to educate clients and the community about the positive impact breastfeeding has on child health.

 

Breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for babies in addition to many other benefits such as:

• helping them form strong immune systems to fight illness
• fewer ear infections, incidences of diarrhea, and upper respiratory diseases
• a decreased risk of developing chronic diseases later in life including obesity, diabetes and asthma
• promoting optimal cognitive development for the child

 

In addition, mothers who breastfeed their babies also receive health benefits including reduced risks of breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.

                                                                        

The WIC Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, is a federally funded program that provides nutrition education and food vouchers to pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age five who have a nutritional need.  Referrals to health care resources are also a part of the services provided by WIC.

 

A family of four with working family members may earn as much as $37,000 annually and still qualify for WIC services.  Often working parents who do not qualify for other kinds of assistance are eligible for WIC.

 

For more information about WIC or to make an appointment, call the HCPHES Decker Drive WIC Center at (281) 424-8366.

 

 

 

WIC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM.  STANDARDS FOR ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WIC PROGRAM ARE THE SAME FOR EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF SEX, RACE, COLOR, CREED, AGE, NATIONAL ORIGIN, DISABILITY, OR POLITICAL BELIEFS.

 

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