Effects of Health and Nutrition on Cognition There have been many questions in the world of people wondering if exercise can really help you live a better life. People perceive exercise, nutrition, and medications as changing the body, but most do not understand what changes occur. This document will provide information for people to understand how exercise, nutrition, and medications can affect the body. Increased/decreased cognition in the womb. Over the years, numerous studies have been conducted on the effects that exercise, nutrition, drugs and alcohol can have on the fetus. According to a result of Canadian research from the University of Montreal, children born to more active mothers tend to develop their brains faster (Kirkey, 2013,). The study was conducted first on rats and shortly afterwards on a group of pregnant women. Now, according to Kirkey's (2013) article, the human study was conducted on 18 women in the second trimester, separated into an exercise group and a sedentary group. Out of 18, 10 women were selected to be part of an exercise program that included 20 minutes of exercise three times a week at moderate intensity. The women had some things in common, namely their economic status, amount of exercise, and the way they ate (Kirkey, 2013,). This study continued until the babies were born and tested thereafter. Between 8 and 12 days after the babies were born, the researchers put a cap on them to monitor the activities of memory-related neurons. Ellenberg said. “The brain response matched that of infants between the ages of six and eight months” (Kirkey, 2013, p.1). The food that mothers eat plays an important role in the development of the baby's education. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3120118/Kirkey, S.(2013). Exercise during pregnancy increases the newborn's brain capacity for life: University of Montreal study. National post. http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/11/11/exercise-during-pregnancy-boosts-a-newborn-babys-brain-capacity-for-life-university-of-montreal-study/ Effects on malnutrition ( 2013). Malnutrition has devastating effects on children's learning potential. Daily information. http://www.theinformationdaily.com/2013/05/28/malnutrition-has-devastating-effect-on-childs-learning-potential Matta, C. (2012). Can exercise make you smarter? Psychological center. http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/11/09/can-exercise-make-you-smarter/Reynolds, G. (2013). How exercise can help us learn. New York Times. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/how-exercise-can-help-us-learn/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0