There is an increasing prevalence of chronic disease, including metabolic syndrome in Indonesian older persons. A cross sectional study was undertaken in Jakarta, Indonesia. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of risk factors of metabolic syndrome in the elderly. The respondents were 395 elderly women and 161 elderly women, selected using multistage random sampling. Data collected included anthropometric measurements, blood analyses, nutrient intake assessment, activity index and stress score. Discriminant analysis techniques were used to determine factors related to metabolic syndrome in the elderly. In general elderly women had higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome than elderly men, 18.2% in women and 6.6% in men respectively. Discriminant analysis results showed that body mass index and serum total cholesterol were significant factors of metabolic syndrome. The final discriminant model was Y = -8.231 + 0.200 BMI + 0.014 Total cholesterol (P = .000). The results show the importance of routine plasma lipid tests and anthropometric measurements in promoting continuing health of elderly patients.