China has the third largest number of tuberculosis cases in the world. As the population ages，there are increasing challenges related to tuberculosis in the elderly. The declined immune function，the endogenous resurgence and exogenous reinfection of tuberculosis，malnutrition and other factors directly affect the prognosis of the disease in elderly patients，among which malnutrition is particularly important. Tuberculosis is a consumptive disease，and the progress of the disease aggravates the occurrence of malnutrition. Malnutrition and tuberculosis are reciprocal causation and react with each other. This article reviews the nutritional status of elderly tuberculosis patients，the significance and methods of nutritional assessment，its current application and limitations，to provide reference of clinical nutritional assessment for elderly tuberculosis patients.