Objective: To identify if the nutritional status and improvements in Vietnam during the 1990s applied equally to the key vulnerable population groups (poor, rural, and ethnic minority) as it did to the nonpoor—largely in the urban areas.

Design: This study used cross-sectional analyses in the context of inequalities occurring in the diets of the poor and nonpoor that accompanied economic improvements during the Vietnam Doi Moi period.

Setting: During the Doi Moi period in Vietnam.

Subjects: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on data using 23 839 individuals (4800 households) from the Vietnam Living Standard Survey (VLSS) in 1992–1993 and 28 509 individuals (6002 households) from the Vietnam Living Standard Survey in 1997–1998. Analysis for changes in food consumption was conducted on 17 763 individuals (4305 households) that were included in both surveys