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Vermont WIC State Plan 2025 Goals, Objectives, and Planned Activities

Nutrition Services - Nutrition Education

Goal: Improve delivery of nutrition education services to WIC participants.

Objective 1: Improve/increase staff capacity to deliver quality nutrition services.

Activities:

• Provide staff training using revised VENA resources to support increased knowledge, skill development and expertise in nutrition education methods for staff. • Provide training in motivational interviewing and behavior change, incorporating resources from the WIC Breastfeeding Training Curriculum. • Provide WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselors and WIC Nutrition staff training on breastfeeding; Level 2 for peer counselors, Level 3 for all certifiers, and Level 4 for Breastfeeding Coordinators. • Review nutrition resources to support virtual and in person appointments, including curriculum guides, displays, textbooks, and client education materials to staff who deliver WIC Services. Provide electronic versions for participants after remote appointments. • Support WIC Nutrition staff to attend national conferences. • Work to improve staff use of technology to deliver nutrition information and resources to families. • Continue the statewide nutrition education workgroup to coordinate the implementation and assessment of nutrition education activities and projects, including sharing best practices among local WIC offices.

Nutrition Services – Breastfeeding

Goal: Exclusive breastfeeding to six months of age will be the norm for infant feeding in Vermont. Breastfeeding Prevalence January – December 2023* Ever Breastfed 80% Exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months 55% Any Breastfeeding at 3 months 73% Exclusive Breastfeeding at 6 months 43% Any Breastfeeding at 6 months 68% Any Breastfeeding at 1 year 74%

* Data for this report from our MIS may not be accurate for this reporting year.

Objective 1: Increase to 86 percent the proportion of infants who are “ever breastfed”. Objective 2: Increase to 58 percent the proportion of infants who are exclusively breastfed at 3 months of age.