Illinois WIC program to include more nutritious foods

The Illinois Department of Human Services is putting more nutritional foods on the list that low-income women can buy through a government food program.

The WIC Program — that provides food vouchers to women who are pregnant or have infants — will add to the approved list of food.

New foods include whole-wheat bread, soy milk, fruits, vegetables, brown rice and soft corn tortillas.

This will be the first major alteration since 1980, and lists were based then on diet deficiencies at the time.

The new food list focuses on child obesity and chronic diseases, as dictated by the 2005 Institute of Medicine study of WIC.

The Human Services department also hopes to promote long-term breast feeding.