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Charles Thomas Wood

Charles Thomas Wood

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Pediatrics, General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health
charles.wood@duke.edu
3116 N. Duke Street, Durham, NC 27704
Dept of Pediatrics, Box 31374, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications

Neighborhood Environmental and Contextual Factors Improve Prediction of Childhood Body Mass Index: An Application of Novel Graph Neural Networks.

Journal Article AJE Adv · September 24, 2025 Childhood obesity is a major risk factor for adult cardiovascular disease. Current obesity-prediction models were not developed in diverse populations and do not include heterogeneous social, environmental, and climate factors that may impact body mass ind ... Full text Link to item Cite

Parent-focused behavioural interventions for the prevention of early childhood obesity (TOPCHILD): a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis.

Journal Article Lancet · September 20, 2025 BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is a global public health issue, which has prompted governments to invest in prevention programmes. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of parent-focused early childhood obesity prevention interventions globally. METHODS ... Full text Link to item Cite

Parent-Reported Measures of Weight-Related Health Behaviors in Early Childhood: A Scoping Review.

Journal Article Child Obes · September 12, 2025 Background: Pediatricians support families in establishing healthy behaviors, yet there is limited information on valid and pragmatic questionnaires for assessing weight-related health behaviors in early childhood (≤24 months). The objective of this review ... Full text Link to item Cite

Increased BMI Velocity is Associated with Elevated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Scores in Adolescents with Obesity.

Journal Article Child Obes · June 2025 Existing studies that have demonstrated a positive association between obesity and depression have been among adults, did not utilize the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), or were conducted in a homogenous patient population. In this retrospective longit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Behavioural components and delivery features of early childhood obesity prevention interventions: intervention coding of studies in the TOPCHILD Collaboration systematic review.

Journal Article Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act · February 5, 2025 BACKGROUND: Early childhood obesity prevention interventions that aim to change parent/caregiver practices related to infant (milk) feeding, food provision and parent feeding, movement (including activity, sedentary behaviour) and/or sleep health (i.e. tar ... Full text Link to item Cite

Good Friends and Good Neighbors: Social Capital and Food Insecurity in Families with Newborns.

Journal Article J Pediatr · January 2025 OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between social capital and household food insecurity among US families with newborns. STUDY DESIGN: This cross-sectional analysis used enrollment data from 881 newborn-caregiver dyads at 6 geographically-diverse US aca ... Full text Link to item Cite

Barriers and Facilitators Influencing Parents' Willingness to Follow Healthcare Provider Guidance for Addressing Behaviors Linked to Early Childhood Obesity Risk: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

Journal Article J Pediatr Health Care · 2025 INTRODUCTION: This study aims to assess parents' willingness to modify behaviors associated with obesity risk upon a provider's recommendation in the first six months of life among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic families. METHOD: Twenty parents completed ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Digital Health Behavior Intervention to Prevent Childhood Obesity: The Greenlight Plus Randomized Clinical Trial.

Journal Article JAMA · December 24, 2024 IMPORTANCE: Infant growth predicts long-term obesity and cardiovascular disease. Previous interventions designed to prevent obesity in the first 2 years of life have been largely unsuccessful. Obesity prevalence is high among traditional racial and ethnic ... Full text Link to item Cite

High Blood Pressure in Children Aged 3 to 12 Years Old With Overweight or Obesity.

Journal Article Child Obes · December 2024 Objective: (1) To describe the prevalence of high blood pressure (BP) and the association with BMI in young children with overweight/obesity; (2) to evaluate the accuracy of a single high BP to diagnose sustained hypertension over three visits. Methods: We ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Effect of an Obesity Prevention Intervention Among Specific Subpopulations: A Heterogeneity of Treatment Effect Analysis of the Greenlight Trial.

Journal Article Child Obes · December 2024 Background: Understanding how different populations respond to a childhood obesity intervention could help optimize personalized treatment strategies, especially with the goal to reduce disparities in obesity. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Overview of BMI and Other Ways of Measuring and Screening for Obesity in Pediatric Patients.

Journal Article Pediatr Clin North Am · October 2024 Despite a long history of advances in measuring body size and composition, body mass index (BMI) has remained the most commonly used clinical measure. We explore the advantages and disadvantages of using BMI and other measures to estimate adipose tissue, r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Television Time, Especially During Meals, Is Associated With Less Healthy Dietary Practices in Toddlers.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · July 2024 BACKGROUND: While several studies examine the relationship between screen time and dietary practices in children and teenagers, there is limited research in toddlers. This study evaluates the association between television (TV) exposure and dietary practic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pediatric Pharmacology for the Primary Care Provider: Advances and Limitations.

Journal Article Pediatrics · July 1, 2024 Despite >1 in 5 children taking prescription drugs in the United States, off-label drug use is common. To increase the study of drugs in children, regulatory bodies have enacted legislation to incentivize and require pediatric drug studies. As a result of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Trends in RSV testing patterns among infants presenting with bronchiolitis: Results from four United States health systems, 2015-2023.

Journal Article Ann Epidemiol · June 2024 BACKGROUND: Bronchiolitis due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of hospitalization among American infants. The overall burden of RSV among infants has been historically under-estimated due to variable testing practices, particularly ... Full text Link to item Cite

User-Centered Framework for Implementation of Technology (UFIT): Development of an Integrated Framework for Designing Clinical Decision Support Tools Packaged With Tailored Implementation Strategies.

Journal Article J Med Internet Res · May 21, 2024 BACKGROUND: Electronic health record-based clinical decision support (CDS) tools can facilitate the adoption of evidence into practice. Yet, the impact of CDS beyond single-site implementation is often limited by dissemination and implementation barriers r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Geographic Progression of Infant Respiratory Syncytial Virus Associated Bronchiolitis Across the United States Before and Since the Onset of COVID-19: Results From Four Health Systems, 2015-2023.

Journal Article Influenza Other Respir Viruses · May 2024 BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a substantial cause of infant morbidity and mortality due to seasonal peaks of bronchiolitis across the United States. Clinical and viral surveillance plays a pivotal role in helping hospital systems prepare ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prenatal Risks to Healthy Food Access and High Birthweight Outcomes.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · 2024 OBJECTIVE: Infants with high birthweight have increased risk for adverse outcomes at birth and across childhood. Prenatal risks to healthy food access may increase odds of high birthweight. We tested whether having a poor neighborhood food environment and/ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Maternal stress and early childhood BMI among US children from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program.

Journal Article Pediatr Res · December 2023 BACKGROUND: We aimed to understand the association between maternal stress in the first year of life and childhood body mass index (BMI) from 2 to 4 years of age in a large, prospective United States-based consortium of cohorts. METHODS: We used data from ... Full text Link to item Cite

Timing and Magnitude of Peak Body Mass Index and Peak Weight Velocity in Infancy Predict Body Mass Index at 2 Years in a Retrospective Cohort of Electronic Health Record Data.

Journal Article J Pediatr · June 2023 OBJECTIVES: To use growth data from electronic health records to describe and model infant growth (weight velocity and peak body mass index [pBMI]) characteristics. STUDY DESIGN: We extracted data from all children born at ≥34 weeks of gestation within one ... Full text Link to item Cite

Quality of life burden on United States infants and caregivers due to lower respiratory tract infection and adjusting for selective testing: Pilot prospective observational study.

Journal Article Health Sci Rep · June 2023 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Policymakers need data about the burden of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) among infants. This study estimates quality of life (QoL) for otherwise healthy term US infants with RSV-LRTI and th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Growth During Infancy After Extremely Preterm Birth: Associations with Later Neurodevelopmental and Health Outcomes.

Journal Article J Pediatr · January 2023 OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations between changes in weight, length, and weight/length ratio during infancy and outcomes later in life among individuals born extremely preterm. STUDY DESIGN: Among participants in the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn ... Full text Link to item Cite

Exploring the Feasibility and Acceptability of Providing Caregivers Who Formula-feed with Smaller Infant Bottles in a Primary Care Clinic.

Journal Article Matern Child Health J · January 2023 OBJECTIVES: Larger bottle size is associated with faster weight gain in infants, but little is known about acceptability and feasibility of providing bottles in primary care clinics. METHODS: We randomized parent-infant dyads (N = 40) to receive a set of 4 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Early childhood nutrition and obesity prevention

Chapter · January 1, 2023 Childhood obesity is a global epidemic with complex roots. The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity may have drastic consequences, potentially shortening the life expectancy of children to lower than preceding generations. The importance of preventin ... Full text Cite

Early Sweet Tooth: Juice Introduction During Early Infancy is Related to Toddler Juice Intake.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · 2023 OBJECTIVE: To assess if 100% fruit juice intake prior to 6 months is associated with juice and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake at 24 months and whether this differs by sociodemographic factors. METHODS: We used longitudinal data from infants enrolled ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Greenlight Plus Trial: Comparative effectiveness of a health information technology intervention vs. health communication intervention in primary care offices to prevent childhood obesity.

Journal Article Contemp Clin Trials · December 2022 BACKGROUND: The first 1000 days of a child's life are increasingly recognized as a critical window for establishing a healthy growth trajectory to prevent childhood obesity and its associated long-term comorbidities. The purpose of this manuscript is to de ... Full text Link to item Cite

Implementation of a Novel Tool to Collect Milk Feeding Data on Infants in Primary Care Clinics.

Journal Article Clin Pediatr (Phila) · November 2022 We aimed to capture milk feeding type in real time in a racially and socioeconomically diverse population. An electronic tool to assess milk feeding type at every medical visit for children aged 0 to 2 years was designed and incorporated into nursing workf ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Respiratory Syncytial Virus During the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared to Historic Levels: A Retrospective Cohort Study of a Health System.

Journal Article J Infect Dis · August 15, 2022 BACKGROUND: Surveillance in 2020-2021 showed that seasonal respiratory illnesses were below levels seen during prior seasons, with the exception of interseasonal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). METHODS: Electronic health record data of infants aged <1 y ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Using Electronic Health Records to understand the population of local children captured in a large health system in Durham County, NC, USA, and implications for population health research.

Journal Article Soc Sci Med · March 2022 Although local policies aimed at reducing childhood health inequities can benefit from local data, sample size constraints in population representative health surveys often prevent rigorous evaluations of child health disparities and health care patterns a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Unpacking the behavioural components and delivery features of early childhood obesity prevention interventions in the TOPCHILD Collaboration: a systematic review and intervention coding protocol.

Journal Article BMJ Open · January 20, 2022 INTRODUCTION: Little is known about how early (eg, commencing antenatally or in the first 12 months after birth) obesity prevention interventions seek to change behaviour and which components are or are not effective. This study aims to (1) characterise ea ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transforming Obesity Prevention for CHILDren (TOPCHILD) Collaboration: protocol for a systematic review with individual participant data meta-analysis of behavioural interventions for the prevention of early childhood obesity.

Journal Article BMJ Open · January 20, 2022 INTRODUCTION: Behavioural interventions in early life appear to show some effect in reducing childhood overweight and obesity. However, uncertainty remains regarding their overall effectiveness, and whether effectiveness differs among key subgroups. These ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prevalence of High Weight Status in Children Under 2 Years in NHANES and Statewide Electronic Health Records Data in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · 2022 OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the prevalence of high weight status in children ages 0 to 24 months (m) using data from electronic health records (EHR) and NHANES. We also examined relationships between weight status during infancy and obesity at 24 months of ag ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ketogenic diet as an advanced option for the management of pediatric obesity.

Journal Article Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes · October 1, 2021 PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The Duke Healthy Lifestyles Program (HL), established in 2006, has treated over 15,000 pediatric patients with obesity. A subset of patients with obesity do not respond to dietary and lifestyle changes. Development of the Staged Transiti ... Full text Link to item Cite

Influence of Early Lactation Assistance on Inpatient Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates.

Journal Article J Hum Lact · August 2021 BACKGROUND: Human milk feeding reduces the incidence and costs of several maternal and childhood illnesses. Initiation and success of human milk feeding are influenced by race, socioeconomic status, and family support. The influence of early in-hospital la ... Full text Link to item Cite

Infant Television Watching Predicts Toddler Television Watching in a Low-Income Population.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · August 2021 OBJECTIVE: This study examines the development of active television (TV) watching behaviors across the first 2 years of life in a racially and ethnically diverse, low-income cohort and identifies caregiver and child predictors of early TV watching. METHODS ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of Breastfeeding, Formula Feeding, and Complementary Feeding on Rapid Weight Gain in the First Year of Life.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · March 2021 OBJECTIVE: To determine whether proportion of breast versus formula feeding and timing of complementary food introduction affect the odds of rapid gain in weight status in a diverse sample of infants. METHODS: Using data from Greenlight Intervention Study, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Concordance of Child and Parent Reports of Children's Screen Media Use.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · July 2019 OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the concordance of parent and child reports of children's media consumption, even though parents are often asked to report for their children in clinical care settings. Our objective was to understand how parent and child r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Health Status of Children Enrolled in a Family Navigator Program to Eliminate Intergenerational Poverty.

Journal Article Clin Pediatr (Phila) · June 2019 In 2014, Family Success Alliance (FSA) was formed as a place-based initiative to build a pipeline of programs to reduce the impact of poverty on outcomes for children living in Orange County, North Carolina. In this study, FSA parents' perception of child ... Full text Link to item Cite

Parental Feeding Beliefs and Practices and Household Food Insecurity in Infancy.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · 2019 OBJECTIVE: Food insecurity is associated with childhood obesity possibly mediated through caregiver feeding practices and beliefs. We examined if caregiver feeding practices differed by household food security status in a diverse sample of infants. We hypo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Antecedents of Obesity Among Children Born Extremely Preterm.

Journal Article Pediatrics · November 2018 BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is a pervasive public health problem with risk factors such as maternal prepregnancy BMI and rapid infant weight gain. Although catch-up weight gain promotes more favorable neurodevelopment among infants born preterm, it is no ... Full text Link to item Cite

Influence of product placement in children's movies on children's snack choices.

Journal Article Appetite · July 1, 2017 BACKGROUND: Media exposure affects health, including obesity risk. Children's movies often contain food placements-frequently unhealthy foods. However, it is not known if these cues influence children's food choices or consumption after viewing. We explore ... Full text Link to item Cite

Bottle Size and Weight Gain in Formula-Fed Infants.

Journal Article Pediatrics · July 2016 BACKGROUND: Formula-fed infants may be at greater risk for overfeeding and rapid weight gain. Different size bottles are used for feeding infants, although little is known about whether bottle size is related to weight gain in bottle-fed infants. METHODS: ... Full text Link to item Cite

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire in Latino families.

Journal Article Appetite · May 1, 2016 BACKGROUND: Parent feeding practices affect risk of obesity in children. Latino children are at higher risk of obesity than the general population, yet valid measure of feeding practices, one of which is the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire (IFSQ), have ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association Between Bottle Size and Formula Intake in 2-Month-Old Infants.

Journal Article Acad Pediatr · April 2016 OBJECTIVE: To determine range of bottle sizes used and examine the relationship between bottle size and total daily consumption of infant formula. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data collected as part of Greenlight, a cluster randomized tria ... Full text Link to item Cite

Identifying Social Determinants of Health and Legal Needs for Children With Special Health Care Needs.

Journal Article Clin Pediatr (Phila) · March 2016 Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) require comprehensive care with high levels of community and government assistance. Medical-legal partnerships may be particularly suited to address needs for this population. To explore this, we conducted in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Screening for Major Depressive Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Journal Article Ann Intern Med · March 1, 2016 BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is common among children and adolescents and is associated with functional impairment and suicide. PURPOSE: To update the 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) systematic review on screening for and t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Physical Examination Findings Among Children and Adolescents With Obesity: An Evidence-Based Review.

Journal Article Pediatrics · February 2016 Overweight and obesity affects 1 in 3 US children and adolescents. Clinical recommendations have largely focused on screening guidelines and counseling strategies. However, the physical examination of the child or adolescent with obesity can provide the cl ... Full text Link to item Cite

Screening for Speech and Language Delay in Children 5 Years Old and Younger: A Systematic Review.

Journal Article Pediatrics · August 2015 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: No recommendation exists for or against routine use of brief, formal screening instruments in primary care to detect speech and language delay in children through 5 years of age. This review aimed to update the evidence on screen ... Full text Link to item Cite