(L to R) NPB’s Lauren Highfill Williams, Chacha Miller, MS, RD, LDN, and Golin’s Mark Dvorak
Fifty percent of babies born in the U.S. each year participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) — that’s 2 million infants. Nutrition education is a requirement for participation, so WIC providers are a critical piece of the puzzle in making peanut allergy prevention possible for all families.
The National Peanut Board (NPB) has been a proud partner of the National WIC Association for several years, and the annual national conference is an incredible opportunity to provide education and resources to WIC clinics to support conversations with new parents on early introduction of peanut foods.
At this year’s conference in Las Vegas, April 22-24, NPB spoke with hundreds of WIC providers from across the country in the exhibit hall. Little Peanut, the spokesnut for peanut allergy prevention, made a splash with new branded displays, handouts and an engaging cutout photo op. NPB provided trusted peer-to-peer connections by partnering with registered dietitian and former WIC director Alicia “Chacha” Miller for office hours at the booth. NPB also hosted a book signing by Malina Malkani, RD and author of the Food Allergy Prevention Cookbook. Conference attendees learned more about food allergy prevention through early introduction at an education session presented by Malkani and Dr. Mike Pistiner of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard.
“We heard from a growing number of WIC staff that more agencies, physicians and parents are getting on board with the updated guidelines,” said Lauren Highfill Williams, director of communications. “Because we’ve prioritized maintaining a strong relationship with this audience over time, many attendees shared that they have been using NPB resources in their conversations with parents and for staff education, and they’ve been extremely helpful.”
On the heels of the 10th anniversary of the groundbreaking Learning Early About Peanut Allergies (LEAP) study behind the current guidelines, this was a refreshing and energizing message.