Stature is an important variable in several indices of nutritional status that are applicable to elderly persons. However, stature is difficult or impossible to measure in the nonambulatory elderly person, or its value may be spurious if measured in those elderly persons with excessive spinal curvature. Simple equations are presented for estimating the stature of elderly men from a recumbent measure of knee height and for elderly women from a recumbent measure of knee height and age. The 90 per cent error bounds for these equations for an individual are about plus or minus 6.0 cm. Knee height is highly correlated with stature.