Accessibility to WIC-authorized ethnic food stores in Washington state: implications for serving the needs of immigrant WIC-eligible populations

Abstract

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a U.S. nutrition assistance program serving pregnant and postpartum women, and children 0-5 years who live in low-income households. WIC provides participants with supplemental foods that can only be purchased in WIC-authorized stores. At least 20% of WIC participants in Washington state are of immigrant background, but information on how many WIC-authorized stores are considered ethnic stores, where immigrant households could access culturally preferred foods, is unknown. This study’s purpose is to assess the availability and distribution of WIC-authorized ethnic stores in Washington state in relation to the location of immigrant WIC-eligible populations. To do so, information on WIC-authorized stores in Washington state was obtained from the WIC Shopper cellphone app; stores were categorized as ethnic or non-ethnic based on online store information. Sociodemographic data for Washington state census tracts were obtained from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2017-2021. Using ArcGIS Pro, a map displaying the census tract level percentage of 1) foreign-born individuals and 2) WIC-eligible children as well as 3) the location of WIC-authorized stores (ethnic/non-ethnic) was generated. The distribution of, and distance to, WIC-authorized ethnic/non-ethnic stores based on the distribution of foreign-born individuals and WIC-eligible children were analyzed in R (using chi-square tests) and ArcGIS Pro (using the “Generate Origin-Destination Link” function). This study found that 29.1 percent of Washington state census tracts had WIC-authorized stores and only 1.7% had at least one WIC-authorized ethnic store. Census tracts with high proportions of both foreign-born individuals and WIC-eligible children had the highest proportion of WIC-authorized ethnic stores (14.5%) and the shortest distance to the nearest WIC-authorized ethnic store (3.0 km) when compared to census tracts with low proportions of foreign-born individuals and WIC-eligible children (0.5% and 20.3 km, respectively; p<0.001). In conclusion, while census tracts with higher proportions of foreign-born individuals and WIC-eligible children had the greatest accessibility to WIC-authorized ethnic stores, WIC-authorized ethnic stores are rare in Washington state. Future research should focus on investigating the barriers and facilitators for ethnic stores to become WIC-authorized in Washington state, in order to better serve the needs of immigrant WIC-eligible populations.