Top questions parents ask about kids' health

From bed-wetting to dealing with childhood nightmares, every parent struggles to get a handle on whatever is ailing your child. Usually parent radar kicks in when it's time to make the trip to the family doctor.

Ann Douglas, author of The Mother of All Parenting Books, joined Balance Television host Dr. Marla Shapiro to talk about parents' top health questions.

"These seem to be mostly the kind of questions that they were going to the doctor with," Douglas said. "The kind of nagging worries for the 3-12 middle childhood kind of years."

Bed-Wetting
There seems to be a pressure to have your toddler toilet trained, Douglas explained. And then when they're a little older, if they're still wetting the bed there's even more pressure, including the social pressure involved with sleepovers. Dr. Shapiro tells her patients that by age 6 most kids will outgrow this problem.

Post-Traumatic Stress
"This has been a big thing since 9-11," Douglas said. "I think that parents are really worried especially with all the stuff we see in the media and just how not to over-bombard kids with this."

If there's been a tragedy in the family or your child has been unfortunate enough to see a car accident or other incident -- parents want to know how to handle this and when a child could benefit from some sort of intervention.

Hearing Problems
Awareness and pre-school screenings appear to have made the speech-language issue a growing concern among parents. If your child doesn't seem to respond, or turns up the volume, then you know that you might have a problem.

Diabetes
Ten years ago parents were less likely to show a concern about diabetes. But again, a larger awareness of nutrition, childhood obesity and general kids' lifestyle issues, have caused parents to show greater concern about how to prevent their kids from becoming a statistic in the growing numbers of children suffering from diabetes or obesity.

For more, read The top 5 foods causing kids to pack on the pounds.

Vision Problems
This is a parental concern that goes way back, Douglas said. However, there does seem to be a greater trend toward worrying about diseases of the eyes and what type of screening children should be undergoing.

Nail-Biting
Nowadays, Douglas said, parents want to know what they can do to break the bad habits of childhood. "I guess the big advice is don't obsess about the habit," she said.

For tips to help your teen break a bad habit, read Kicking the habits.

Depression
Parents want to know when their pre-teen may be crossing the line from moping to something that might actually be classified as clinical depression. The issue of teen suicide is very real, so it's important to pay attention to symptoms such as sadness, changes in behaviour and poor concentration.

For some nutritional tips to promote a healthy brain function in children, read Mood food for kids.

"I get a lot of e-mails from parents just wanting to know (if something is normal)," Douglas explained. "Because I think we want that bottom-line reassurance that things are going as they should."