A large body of literature documents positive effects of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on birth outcomes, and separately connects health at birth and future outcomes. But little research investigates the link between prenatal WIC participation and childhood outcomes. We explore this question using a unique data set from South Carolina that links administrative birth, Medicaid, and education records. We find that relative to their siblings, prenatal WIC participants have a lower incidence of ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and other common childhood mental health conditions and a lower incidence of grade repetition. These findings demonstrate that a “WIC start” results in persistent improvements in child outcomes across a range of domains.

中文翻译：

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产前WIC参与会改善儿童结局吗？

大量文献记载了《妇女，婴儿和儿童补充营养特别计划》对出生结局的积极影响，并将出生时的健康状况与未来结局分别联系在一起。但是很少有研究调查产前WIC参与与儿童结局之间的联系。我们使用来自南卡罗来纳州的独特数据集来探索这个问题，该数据集链接了行政出生，医疗补助和教育记录。我们发现，相对于他们的兄弟姐妹，产前WIC参与者的ADHD（注意力缺陷/多动障碍）和其他常见的儿童心理健康状况的发生率较低，并且等级重复的发生率较低。这些发现表明，“ WIC的开始”将导致各个领域儿童结局的持续改善。