# Are ecto, endo and mesomorphs considered valid physiological classifications **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ecto-endo-and-mesomorphs-considered-valid-physiological-classifications/667073 "2013-08-24T19:08:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ecto-endo-and-mesomorphs-considered-valid-physiological-classifications/667073/1 "2013-08-24T19:08:10Z")
Is there any real difference between ectomorphs, endomorphs and mesomorphs in what kind of nutrition they need, how they respond to exercise, how their bodies work, etc or are those terms just something people invented to easily classify people into 3 groups? I saw a physical therapist who mentioned that I have a mesomorph build (I am more of a mix of a meso and endomorph I think). She mentioned that mesomorphs have larger nerve roots at the spinal cord (larger nerve roots being necessary to support larger muscles) which can make nerve entrapment easier. I don’t know if she was right about that or what. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ecto-endo-and-mesomorphs-considered-valid-physiological-classifications/667073/2 "2013-08-24T22:36:15Z")
Though I learned about this back in high school years ago, I learned that these teaching has been thoroughly debunked. I hadn’t heard of it in years. You may have larger than average nerve roots but then 49% percent of all people do. I did think back on it when it was confirmed that people of European descent have some Neanderthal genetic material. I was thinking that might explain why two people of the same basic size can vary so much in weight. The Neanderthal definitely falls into the Mesomorph category. But please remember that it is really only a man-made category, designed to support a theory. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ecto-endo-and-mesomorphs-considered-valid-physiological-classifications/667073/3 "2013-08-25T02:40:18Z")
I remember that the ecto, endo and mesomorph triad was part of a large display in the Smithsonian Natural History museum when I was in my teens in the 70’s. [wiki says](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatotype_and_constitutional_psychology) > [@](#): > > Sheldon’s theories enjoyed a vogue as the “pop-psych flavor of the month” through the 1950s.[2] Modern scientists, however, generally (with occasional exceptions[3][4]) dismiss his claims as outdated, if not outright quackery.[5] > > Sheldon’s photographs of naked Ivy League undergraduates, numbered in the thousands, were taken under the umbrella of a pre-existing program ostensibly evaluating student posture. The photos were in fact collected by Sheldon to provide data for his ideas about somatotypes. However, as “part of a façade or cover-up” the students and schools were told that the photos were taken to evaluate posture.[2] ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ecto-endo-and-mesomorphs-considered-valid-physiological-classifications/667073/4 "2013-08-25T03:26:18Z")
I don’t know, but I find it telling that the only course in medical school which mentioned it was Psychiatry.