Clinical Focus


  • Pediatrics

Academic Appointments


Professional Education


  • Residency: UCSF Pediatric Fellowships (2002) CA
  • Internship: UCSF Pediatric Fellowships (1999) CA
  • Board Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatrics (2001)
  • Medical Education: University of Massachusetts Medical Center (1998) MA

Current Research and Scholarly Interests


Research interests include: 1) Childhood obesity, community-based interventions to increase physical activity 2) Impact of medical-legal collaboration on child and family health.

Clinical Trials


  • Sports to Prevent Obesity Not Recruiting

    The purpose of this study is to learn whether overweight children who participate in an after school team sports program improve their health as much as overweight children in a more traditional health education program.

    Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial.

    View full details

  • Sports to Prevent Obesity: Feasibility and Pilot RCT Not Recruiting

    The purpose of this study is to learn whether overweight children who participate in an after school sports program improve their health as much as overweight children in a more traditional health education program.

    Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial.

    View full details

All Publications


  • A community-based, multi-level, multi-setting, multi-component intervention to reduce weight gain among low socioeconomic status Latinx children with overweight or obesity: The Stanford GOALS randomised controlled trial. The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology Robinson, T. N., Matheson, D., Wilson, D. M., Weintraub, D. L., Banda, J. A., McClain, A., Sanders, L. M., Haskell, W. L., Haydel, K. F., Kapphahn, K. I., Pratt, C., Truesdale, K. P., Stevens, J., Desai, M. 2021

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: There are few long-term studies of interventions to reduce in low socioeconomic status children with overweight or obesity. The Stanford GOALS trial evaluated a 3-year, community-based, multi-level, multi-setting, multi-component (MMM) systems intervention, to reduce weight gain among low socioeconomic status, Latinx children with overweight or obesity.METHODS: We did a two-arm, parallel group, randomised, open-label, active placebo-controlled trial with masked assessment over 3 years. Families from low-income, primarily Latinx communities in Northern California, CA, USA, with 7-11-year-old children with overweight or obesity were randomly assigned to a MMM intervention or a Health Education (HE) comparison intervention. The MMM intervention included home environment changes and behavioural counselling, community after school team sports, and reports to primary health-care providers. The primary outcome was child BMI trajectory over three years. Secondary outcomes included one- and two-year changes in BMI. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.govNCT01642836.FINDINGS: Between July 13, 2012, and Oct 3, 2013, 241 families were recruited and randomly assigned to MMM (n=120) or HE (n=121). Children's mean age was 9·5 (SD 1·4) years, 134 (56%) were female and 107 (44%) were male, and 236 (98%) were Latinx. 238 (99%) children participated in year 1, 233 (97%) in year 2, and 227 (94%) in year 3 of follow-up assessments. In intention-to-treat analysis, over 3 years, the difference between intervention groups in BMI trajectory was not significant (mean adjusted difference -0·25 [95% CI -0·90 to 0·40] kg/m2; Cohen's d=0.10; p=0·45). Children in the MMM intervention group gained less BMI over 1 year than did children in the HE intervention group (-0·73 [-1·07 to -0·39] kg/m2, d=0.55); the same was true over 2 years (-0·63 [-1·13 to -0·14] kg/m2; d =0.33). No differential adverse events were observed.INTERPRETATION: The MMM intervention did not reduce BMI gain versus HE over 3 years but the effects over 1 and 2 years in this rigorous trial show the promise of this systems intervention approach for reducing weight gain and cardiometabolic risk factors in low socioeconomic status communities.FUNDING: US National Institutes of Health.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/S2213-8587(21)00084-X

    View details for PubMedID 33933181

  • Immigration Policy: Valuing Children ACADEMIC PEDIATRICS Mendoza, F. S., Cueto, V., Lawrence, D., Sanders, L., Weintraub, D. 2018; 18 (7): 723–25
  • Instructional Strategies to Promote Incremental Beliefs in Youth Sport QUEST Vella, S. A., Cliff, D. P., Okely, A. D., Weintraub, D. L., Robinson, T. N. 2014; 66 (4): 357-370
  • Family, community and clinic collaboration to treat overweight and obese children: Stanford GOALS-A randomized controlled trial of a three-year, multi-component, multi-level, multi-setting intervention. Contemporary clinical trials Robinson, T. N., Matheson, D., Desai, M., Wilson, D. M., Weintraub, D. L., Haskell, W. L., McClain, A., McClure, S., A Banda, J., Sanders, L. M., Haydel, K. F., Killen, J. D. 2013; 36 (2): 421-435

    Abstract

    To test the effects of a three-year, community-based, multi-component, multi-level, multi-setting (MMM) approach for treating overweight and obese children.Two-arm, parallel group, randomized controlled trial with measures at baseline, 12, 24, and 36months after randomization.Seven through eleven year old, overweight and obese children (BMI≥85th percentile) and their parents/caregivers recruited from community locations in low-income, primarily Latino neighborhoods in Northern California.Families are randomized to the MMM intervention versus a community health education active-placebo comparison intervention. Interventions last for three years for each participant. The MMM intervention includes a community-based after school team sports program designed specifically for overweight and obese children, a home-based family intervention to reduce screen time, alter the home food/eating environment, and promote self-regulatory skills for eating and activity behavior change, and a primary care behavioral counseling intervention linked to the community and home interventions. The active-placebo comparison intervention includes semi-annual health education home visits, monthly health education newsletters for children and for parents/guardians, and a series of community-based health education events for families.Body mass index trajectory over the three-year study. Secondary outcome measures include waist circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, accelerometer-measured physical activity, 24-hour dietary recalls, screen time and other sedentary behaviors, blood pressure, fasting lipids, glucose, insulin, hemoglobin A1c, C-reactive protein, alanine aminotransferase, and psychosocial measures.The Stanford GOALS trial is testing the efficacy of a novel community-based multi-component, multi-level, multi-setting treatment for childhood overweight and obesity in low-income, Latino families.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.cct.2013.09.001

    View details for PubMedID 24028942

  • Pilot study of medical-legal partnership to address social and legal needs of patients. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved Weintraub, D., Rodgers, M. A., Botcheva, L., Loeb, A., Knight, R., Ortega, K., Heymach, B., Sandel, M., Huffman, L. 2010; 21 (2): 157-168

    Abstract

    As a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of medical-legal partnership in pediatrics, we conducted a 36-month prospective cohort study of the impact of clinic- and hospital-based legal services. We hypothesized that integration of legal services into pediatric settings would increase families' awareness of and access to legal and social services, decrease barriers to health care for children, and improve child health.Health care providers referred families with legal or social needs to the Peninsula Family Advocacy Program (FAP).Fifty four families completed both baseline and six-month follow-up assessments. Comparison of follow-up with baseline demonstrated significantly increased proportions of families who utilized food and income supports and significantly decreased proportions of families avoiding health care due to lack of health insurance or concerns about cost. Two-thirds of respondents reported improved child health and well-being.This study suggests that adding an attorney to the medical team increases awareness of and access to social and legal services.

    View details for DOI 10.1353/hpu.0.0311

    View details for PubMedID 20453383

  • Medical-Legal Partnership: Collaborating with Lawyers to Identify and Address Health Disparities JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE Cohen, E., Fullerton, D. F., Retkin, R., Weintraub, D., Tames, P., Brandfield, J., Sandel, M. 2010; 25: S136-S139

    Abstract

    Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) bring together medical professionals and lawyers to address social causes of health disparities, including access to adequate food, housing and income.Eighty-one MLPs offer legal services for patients whose basic needs are not being met.Besides providing legal help to patients and working on policy advocacy, MLPs educate residents (29 residency programs), health care providers (160 clinics and hospitals) and medical students (25 medical schools) about how social conditions affect health and screening for unmet basic needs, and how these needs can often be impacted by enforcing federal and state laws. These curricula include medical school courses, noon conferences, advocacy electives and CME courses.Four example programs are described in this paper. Established MLPs have changed knowledge (MLP | Boston-97% reported screening for two unmet needs), attitudes (Stanford reported reduced concern about making patients "nervous" with legal questions from 38% to 21%) and behavior (NY LegalHealth reported increasing resident referrals from 15% to 54%) after trainings. One developing MLP found doctors experienced difficulty addressing social issues (NJ LAMP-67% of residents felt uncomfortable).MLPs train residents, students and other health care providers to tackle socially caused health disparities.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s11606-009-1239-7

    View details for Web of Science ID 000277270300013

    View details for PubMedID 20352508

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2847107

  • Team sports for overweight children - The Stanford sports to prevent obesity randomized trial (SPORT) ARCHIVES OF PEDIATRICS & ADOLESCENT MEDICINE Weintraub, D. L., Tirumalai, E. C., Haydel, K. F., Fujimoto, M., Fulton, J. E., Robinson, T. N. 2008; 162 (3): 232-237

    Abstract

    To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of an after-school team sports program for reducing weight gain in low-income overweight children.Six-month, 2-arm, parallel-group, pilot randomized controlled trial.Low-income, racial/ethnic minority community.Twenty-one children in grades 4 and 5 with a body mass index at or above the 85th percentile.The treatment intervention consisted of an after-school soccer program. The "active placebo" control intervention consisted of an after-school health education program.Implementation, acceptability, body mass index, physical activity measured using accelerometers, reported television and other screen time, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and weight concerns.All 21 children completed the study. Compared with children receiving health education, children in the soccer group had significant decreases in body mass index z scores at 3 and 6 months and significant increases in total daily, moderate, and vigorous physical activity at 3 months.An after-school team soccer program for overweight children can be a feasible, acceptable, and efficacious intervention for weight control.

    View details for Web of Science ID 000253672100006

    View details for PubMedID 18316660