Presumably, if WIC is properly targeted, demographic
groups that are expected to have a higher percentage of
poorly nourished women9 will be more heavily represented
in the WIC population. Massachusetts WIC program sites
are located in more disadvantaged areas of the state and,
within the WIC program itself, the higher risk subgroups are
more heavily represented. Although appropriately targeted,
there are many more women eligible for the WIC prenatal
program who did not or could not participate; in 1980, the
federal government estimated that only 21 per cent of eligible
women in Massachusetts were enrolled in WIC.10