Body composition was assessed by means of anthropometry in a group of 75 elderly people (21 men and 54 women), aged 65 to 95 years (mean age 82.1 +/- 0.7) (x +/- SE), mean weight 58.5 +/- 1.7 kg and mean height 150.4 +/- 1.1 cm, which live in al Old People's Home in the Autonomic Community of Madrid. The average Quetelet Index 25.7 +/- 0.7 kg/m2 indicates a basically normal situation although there are 21% obese elderly with Quetelet over 30 kg/m2 and 12% of the cases with the index under 20 kg/m2. Even though the skinfold thickness in our population is inferior to the results obtained in other studies, the triceps skinfold is nearer the values given by other authors, and the suprailiac skinfold is completely different. This means that the elderly studied have less abdominal fat accumulation and more accumulation in arms and legs. This fat distribution can be beneficial in relationship to the risk of suffering several pathologies. Of the males, 15% and 22% of the females have their weight 25% and 30%, respectively, higher than their ideal weight. But there are also some of them with ponderal deficiency; by this means, 23% have 95% lesser than their ideal weight, indicating moderate malnutrition. A total of 16% have less than 85%, indicating medium malnutrition and 2 have less than 75% of the ideal weight, which is indicating of severe deficiency. With age, the measured height, weight, skinfolds, circumferences and diameters, the fat and lean body mass values decrease, the abdominal skinfold and the fat body mass decreasing significantly. Our results can contribute to increase knowledge as to the nutritional status and body composition of the Spanish elderly, and emphasize the coexistence of fat and ponderal excess with deficiencies of higher or lower importance.