As part of the Cross-Cultural Research on Nutrition of Older Subjects (CRONOS) project, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to observe the nutritional status and body composition of free-living elderly and middle-aged people in a low-income area of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Anthropometric data (weight; height; arm span; four skinfold thicknesses; left upper mid-arm, abdomen, hip and calf circumferences) were collected from 50 Vietnamese men and 50 Vietnamese women aged between 35 and 44 years and 50 men and 50 women aged between 60 and 74 years who lived in Village 2, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City. The prevalence of chronic energy deficiency (CED) in the elderly men (BMI = 19.9 ± 2.8 kg/m2) was higher (52 vs 34%) than that in the middle-aged men (BMI = 19.2 ± 3.4 kg/m2). Fat-free mass and calf circumference of the elderly were lower than those of the middle-aged (p<0.001). However, the Vietnamese elderly had higher body fat content, higher abdomen-to-hip ratios and lower fat-free mass than their younger counterparts (p<0.05). In particular, 36% of middle-aged women and 20% of elderly women were classified with 'relative abdominal overfatness'. Vietnamese middle-aged and older adults are shorter and thinner than their counterparts in American and European countries but overfatness increases with age, particularly in women. Urban elderly are vulnerable to both undernutrition and overnutrition, both of which merit consideration in the geriatric care system in Vietnam.