My friend is pregnant and eats mac and cheese & pizza EVERYDAY & never eats healthy.Can this affect the baby?

Yes, nutrition definitely counts!!! If nutrition didn't matter, nutritional experts wouldn't recommend that pregnant women take 400 mg of folic acid a day. Just like alcohol can cause a baby to develop fetal alcohol syndrome, not eating properly can definitely affect a baby.

Of course, I understand that there are certain foods that she is craving, but she still ought to eat other healthy foods as well...dark leafy green vegetables, etc. It sounds like everything that she is putting into her body is acidic. She needs to add some alkaline foods like vegetables.

Yes and no. If she is taking her prenatal vitamins then that is atleast something. I have known woman to eat horrible during pregnancy and still have a healthy baby but eating that stuff does increase the risk of mom developing problems that can affect the baby. the breads and pastas can cause problems if gestational diabetes develops. Also the fat content can affect the moms heart which can then affect the baby. Also that food can cause a fast weight gain which can cause health problems for mom which can affect the baby.

If she has a severe lack of certain nutrients it could. But I bet she is getting enough of everything from what she eats. The baby will take what s/he needs nutritionally before mom gets her portion so she will be affected by the poor food choices before the baby will. Let her OB worry about the baby's health. I am sure if she is lacking anything it will show in the routine bloodwork, weight checks, etc that do.

I ate pizza like all the time. I just gained alot more weight than I should have..

It's fine to eat pizza and mac and cheese, but that shouldn't be ALL she eats. She needs to eat healthy too.

It prolly wont affect the baby at all, though she may gain more weight than she would like and subsequently have a hard time losing the weight once the baby is born...

i had cravings for junk food my whole pregnancy and my son is a completely healthy 4 yr old...

It can affect the babys weight gain and its not good for her blood pressure to be eatting all junk try to get her to add fruits and veggies in at least and for her sake of getting her body back after the baby comes!

Honestly i dont know, but its better to eat healthy when pregnant for both mom and baby cause of weight+back issues down the road but what she should be worried about is her figure

No the baby will be fine. Its best to eat healthy more for herself than the baby, but if thats all she can eat she's okay. I ate sweets, cakes, pies and anything sweet for my first 4 months because that was literally all I could handle without throwing up. Everything EXCEPT sweets made me sick. My daughter turned out very healthy.

Probably not if she is taking her prenatal vitamins. Babies will take their vitamins first so your friend could end up gaining more weight than she should. Being pregnant really isn't a free pass for poor nutrition. She could also end up anemic and being overly tired. If she gets to anemic she will end up getting shots for it. She is going to be a mom. Time to stop thinking of just herself now.

Although they recommend that you eat healthy, the baby will be fine!! My step sister could not keep down absolutely anything except McDonald and BK throughout her entire pregnancy. Her daughter is VERY healthy! Let your frine denjoy herself! Food is glorious when you are pregnant!