Im no nutritionist but...uhh?

lithezebra

The USDA recommendations for servings of grains are high, but I don't think they're 11 servings a day high.

Edit: I stand corrected. The food pyramid recommends 6-11 servings a day of grains. I was thinking that the recommendation was for 6 servings. I aim for no more than 3, and also eat some carbs in the form of starchy vegetables and beans.

MityMax96

money that i have paid into. money that my husband still pays into. what is wrong with expecting them to have proper education? just because its a government program doesnt mean we arent or have never paid for it.

If you have worked and paid into the system, then use it.

I do have problems with people that abuse the system though.......and I have seen quite a few of those people in front of me at the store.

Hope things work out for you and your family.....

jcmrax5

We had a WIC appointment today and it was a nutrition class. Ive never been to one of these classes the entire time we've been on WIC but I think the lady was insane. Im no nutritionist so please tell me if this sounds about right...

It was early in the AM so no one that was there (about 5 families total) was very talkative. Who would be anyways? This lady basically has an attitude that we do not know how to feed our kids because were on WIC. But she was telling us fiber is important (obviously). and that we (kids included) need 11 servings of bread, pasta, rice, etc., a day. ELEVEN? Seriously? That seems like A LOT. Not sure if she meant 11 servings of FIBER a day but she said 11 grains, pasta, and bread. I don't really follow the food pyramid, I just feed my kids healthy foods, lots of protein, lots of veggies, and everything in moderation. Seriously- does my 1 year old REALLY need 11 servings? Thats insane. if she meant 11 servings with fiber rich veggies included that would make more sense. but she didnt say...

She also said I should be giving her, and my other kids, 4-6 oz juice daily. she went on to say how i shouldnt give any more then that because 4oz juice had the same amount of sugar as 1 can of pop. So please- WHY would I want to give juice to my kids daily anyways? I might as well give them a damn coke! And i'd never do that, so why would I give them bottled juice daily?

She ended up getting upset that no one was engaging in conversation (she wanted us to talk about us, our kids, ages, names, etc) and stormed out. She reminded me of the WIC lady who told me to stop breastfeeding my 12 month old and give cows milk because she needs "real milk". *eye roll*

Why didn't you ask her these questions? It sounds like some of it could just be misunderstanding (as some people have already pointed out for the servings info) and some of it is just because it is an employee giving the information they are told to give. If they have a lot of those classes then they probably don't feel they have the time to give customized information (such as no, your 1 year does not have the same dietary needs as a 10 year old) but wanted to give the most basic info to try and benefit as many people as possible in that brief time.

she really didnt give time to. she wanted to talk about us and the kids and like i said personal life. when no one was interested she jumped into her little speech and jumped around a lot. asked a lot of silly (IMO) questions. "Where is fiber. why is it important? how much juice do your kids need a day? (I got that "wrong". i said they didnt NEED any.) then she went back to asking about us and not nutrition. again no one was interested so she said "well fine. if no one is willing to participate were done" and walked out. she really never stopped to breathe, much less ask if anyone had questions pertaining to the topic at hand

alpine1994

Those group nutrition counseling sessions are tough because the WIC Nutrition Assistant has to assume that nobody knows much about nutrition and go from there. You know that giving a lot of juice to your children isn't the greatest idea, but some people might think that juice = healthy and so she was probalby just saying to limit it. The 11 servings of grains thing is definitely weird. I would assume they use the American Heart Association recommendations, which is 6. Maybe she meant something else or was confused about the recommendations.

I think someone might have pointed it out but a WIC Nutrition Assistant doesn't need a background or education in nutrition. They just need to pass a standardized test basically. Maybe your lady barely squeaked by. The WIC dietitians provide 1-on-1 counseling only.

I am a student in a dietitian program right now and working for/volunteering at WIC is something I want to do in my career.

lithezebra

We had a WIC appointment today and it was a nutrition class. Ive never been to one of these classes the entire time we've been on WIC but I think the lady was insane. Im no nutritionist so please tell me if this sounds about right...

It was early in the AM so no one that was there (about 5 families total) was very talkative. Who would be anyways? This lady basically has an attitude that we do not know how to feed our kids because were on WIC. But she was telling us fiber is important (obviously). and that we (kids included) need 11 servings of bread, pasta, rice, etc., a day. ELEVEN? Seriously? That seems like A LOT. Not sure if she meant 11 servings of FIBER a day but she said 11 grains, pasta, and bread. I don't really follow the food pyramid, I just feed my kids healthy foods, lots of protein, lots of veggies, and everything in moderation. Seriously- does my 1 year old REALLY need 11 servings? Thats insane. if she meant 11 servings with fiber rich veggies included that would make more sense. but she didnt say...

She also said I should be giving her, and my other kids, 4-6 oz juice daily. she went on to say how i shouldnt give any more then that because 4oz juice had the same amount of sugar as 1 can of pop. So please- WHY would I want to give juice to my kids daily anyways? I might as well give them a damn coke! And i'd never do that, so why would I give them bottled juice daily?

She ended up getting upset that no one was engaging in conversation (she wanted us to talk about us, our kids, ages, names, etc) and stormed out. She reminded me of the WIC lady who told me to stop breastfeeding my 12 month old and give cows milk because she needs "real milk". *eye roll*

Why didn't you ask her these questions? It sounds like some of it could just be misunderstanding (as some people have already pointed out for the servings info) and some of it is just because it is an employee giving the information they are told to give. If they have a lot of those classes then they probably don't feel they have the time to give customized information (such as no, your 1 year does not have the same dietary needs as a 10 year old) but wanted to give the most basic info to try and benefit as many people as possible in that brief time.

she really didnt give time to. she wanted to talk about us and the kids and like i said personal life. when no one was interested she jumped into her little speech and jumped around a lot. asked a lot of silly (IMO) questions. "Where is fiber. why is it important? how much juice do your kids need a day? (I got that "wrong". i said they didnt NEED any.) then she went back to asking about us and not nutrition. again no one was interested so she said "well fine. if no one is willing to participate were done" and walked out. she really never stopped to breathe, much less ask if anyone had questions pertaining to the topic at hand

You fulfilled your obligation to attend a useless meeting, and now you can get on with doing a better job than the USDA is trying to get people who eat chips and drink soda to do.

danikanoodles

She really compared juice to soda...oh wow. The crappy juices with added sugars aren't the best but a high quality juice with some pulp still in tacked is way different. But all in all it's much better to give them just the fruit.

Kids can't actually properly digest grains until age 3. There's something in their digestive system that isn't fully formed until then.

Creating Healthy Children by Karen Ranzi is a great book on nutrition for little ones.

jcmrax5

money that i have paid into. money that my husband still pays into. what is wrong with expecting them to have proper education? just because its a government program doesnt mean we arent or have never paid for it.

If you have worked and paid into the system, then use it.

I do have problems with people that abuse the system though.......and I have seen quite a few of those people in front of me at the store.

Hope things work out for you and your family.....

No we certainly do not abuse the system. I would much rather take care of my kids on my own and know that the program is available for others who need it. but like i said previously. i was just laid off and we need it for now. in fact when i had my last job they called to remind me we had a WIC appt., i told them i was working now and no longer needing or using the vouchers, and to cancel my appt. She asked what our income was and then proceeded to tell me "you should just stay on it. technically you still qualify".
no thanks. i dont care if i can make over 4grand a month and still qualify. if i can do it on my own ill do it on my own.

MityMax96

money that i have paid into. money that my husband still pays into. what is wrong with expecting them to have proper education? just because its a government program doesnt mean we arent or have never paid for it.

If you have worked and paid into the system, then use it.

I do have problems with people that abuse the system though.......and I have seen quite a few of those people in front of me at the store.

Hope things work out for you and your family.....

No we certainly do not abuse the system. I would much rather take care of my kids on my own and know that the program is available for others who need it. but like i said previously. i was just laid off and we need it for now. in fact when i had my last job they called to remind me we had a WIC appt., i told them i was working now and no longer needing or using the vouchers, and to cancel my appt. She asked what our income was and then proceeded to tell me "you should just stay on it. technically you still qualify".
no thanks. i dont care if i can make over 4grand a month and still qualify. if i can do it on my own ill do it on my own.

Good to hear, glad things are working out for you and your family.

jcmrax5

She really compared juice to soda...oh wow. The crappy juices with added sugars aren't the best but a high quality juice with some pulp still in tacked is way different. But all in all it's much better to give them just the fruit.

Kids can't actually properly digest grains until age 3. There's something in their digestive system that isn't fully formed until then.

Creating Healthy Children by Karen Ranzi is a great book on nutrition for little ones.

the juice that they provide is like juicy juice or something like that (we dont get the juice so im not sure exactly) its not like orange juice or the healthier juices. so it really wouldnt surprise me if it was compareable to soda.

Sabine_Stroehm

I would rather make sure that the staff is properly educated before they open their mouth

Could you offer to help teach the class perhaps?

lithezebra

I would rather make sure that the staff is properly educated before they open their mouth

exactly Could you offer to help teach the class perhaps?

The staff is probably expected to follow the USDA guidelines, and 6-11 servings of grains per day is the guideline. There are new 2015 guidelines, but I can't see what they are during the gov't shutdown. The USDA guidelines aren't perfect, but they're a heck of a lot better than most Americans are doing with their diets.....BUT, anyone who knows well enough to eat whole fruit rather than juice, can do at least one step better. I took a nutrition class, from an MD, and she followed the USDA guidelines too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to have 6 servings of pasta every day.

P.S. I'm a taxpayer, never had kids and never used WIC, and I consider it to be a good use of tax dollars, even with the imperfect guidelines that they use. Kids won't starve, go without fruits and vegetables, or be without protein, on the USDA guidelines

DrewMontoya

Just to clarify, WIC is not SNAP. The latter is the one that used to allow for black market surf and turf sales in the Walmart parking lot. WIC's mission is to ensure that low income families have enough food to thrive. WIC also have very strict food lists from which you can buy, listed by brand and name. To use the cold cereal example that was brought up earlier, the food list specifically lists Cheerios by General Mills as well as their Malt O' Meal counterpart.

It's a good program and as a single guy with no kids who has paid a s**t load of tax, I support it 100%.

velvet4899

Just to clarify, WIC is not SNAP. The latter is the one that used to allow for black market surf and turf sales in the Walmart parking lot. WIC's mission is to ensure that low income families have enough food to thrive. WIC also have very strict food lists from which you can buy, listed by brand and name. To use the cold cereal example that was brought up earlier, the food list specifically lists Cheerios by General Mills as well as their Malt O' Meal counterpart.

It's a good program and as a single guy with no kids who has paid a s**t load of tax, I support it 100%.

velvet4899

Well said, I used it over 30 years ago, it did include orange juice, peanut butter, formula, milk, cheese, eggs and cereal. Its not SNAP or anything like it. Very strict on what you can purchase and a very good program. By the way, son's wife uses it and he's been in the military for 10 years so you can make a fair amount of income and still qualify.

JingleMuffin

wow - boob milk is real milk.

op - that lady was a bit of a nutcase. would have loved to be there.

LoseYouself

All I got out of this was her comment about 4oz juice being equivalent to a can of soda. Um? No, a 4 oz serving of juice is not equivalent. Not even close. (I'm sure you know that, that lady seems very uneducated).


For example, you said they use Juicy Juice, well then:

4 oz Juicy Juice- 65 calories, 16g sugar
Can of Pepsi- 150 calories, 41g sugar

In my opinion, kids don't need juice at all, the same way they don't need soda. They'd be better off drinking water and eating real fruit. I don't see why she said you were "wrong" when you said they didn't need it. Sounds like an annoying meeting, so just let it go and know that you're doing your best with the resources you have. It's a good thing you know better... because I'm sure a lot of people don't.