
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 4, 1990                   TAG: 9006040200
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SALLEE EBBETT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CUTTING WIC BENEFITS

A FRONT-PAGE article in the May 29 Roanoke Times & World-News informed us that approximately half the states are cutting benefits under the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, a program that benefits 4.5 million expectant and new mothers and young children who are at high risk of malnutrition. The article noted that this program saves money that otherwise would have to be spent from Medicaid.

Why is this happening?

The Missouri Director of Food and Nutrition Services states that 14,000 children who will be dropped from the program will probably qualify for services again in a few months "when they have symptoms of anemia and malnutrition." What kind of stupidity is this?

We are so concerned about the low intelligence ratings on tests our children take in school. Without adequate nutrition, the very foundation of health and intelligence, we will never achieve our educational desires, never manage to have an electorate with the intelligence to vote, to work, to keep this country going.

One wonders if those in favor of cutting back WIC benefits were given the adequate nutrition they required when they were growing up.

In this country, it is considered acceptable for a parent not to share financially in the raising of his/her children. The law may state otherwise, but the reality is that large numbers of children are not receiving child support. Many of these children receive some type of public assistance. When the government then states that reductions in funding are necessary, many children are relegated to a state of unbearable deprivation.

The foundation of this country is the people in it and a large number of those people are children who are being condemned to hunger and ill health. Our medical community can't handle the extra burden; our tax structure can't handle it either.

In the long run, we tend to forget that it will cost us more to repair the damage we're causing. We need to make sure that all children in this country receive the nutritional and medical necessities. Once those needs have been met, then we can be concerned about our educational needs. It won't matter how splendid our educational systems are, if the children they serve don't have the intellectual capacity to benefit from them. This concept is simple preventive action.

I am a single parent who does not receive child support. While at present I am not a recipient of public assistance, I was at one time. And I realize that I may someday have to accept it again.

How close are you to having to "lower" yourself to accept public assistance? Do you live from one paycheck to another? Are your liabilities greater than your assets? If you lost your job, how long would it take you to find another? What would you do in the meantime? Could you pay your bills, feed your family, handle a medical emergency (without the insurance your job provided)? Public assistance can be a lifeline in such times.

And what are your prospects if you can't read, if you don't have the intelligence to add and subtract? The situation really is this basic. Let's start by recognizing that our children are our most important asset. Because the bottom line is this: Nothing can happen without adequate nutrition to create the health and intelligence people need to function productively.

by CNB