Abstract: Objective To understand dietary nutrition status of women in early pregnancy so as to provide scientific evidence for a more reasonable dietary recommendation for them. Methods A consecutive 3-day 24-h dietary recall method was used to investigate the dietary intake of women in early pregnancy who were enrolled in a cohort of a hospital in Dongguan City from April to August,2013. Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs) of Chinese Dietary Reference Intakes and Dietary guidelines for Chinese pregnant women, women during lactation and children aged 0 to 6 years were used to evaluate the nutritional status of pregnant women. Results A total of 245 women aged between 20 and 35 years in early pregnancy were included in this study. The average age was (26.40±3.13) years and the average body mass index (BMI), (19.87±2.61). The average daily intake of energy was 1 456.00 kcal (80.89% of RNI). Protein to energy ratio (12.32%) was lower than RNI, whereas the fat to energy ratio (32.73%) was higher than RNI. Only the amount of niacin intake met the RNI (103.33% of RNI), while the intake amount of dietary fiber, sodium, calcium and vitamin B1 were 31.52%, 34.38%, 36.90%, 39.17% of RNI, respectively. The average daily intakes of cereals (238.43 g) and livestock meat (44.18 g) met RNI, fruit (218.10 g) was slightly above RNI, whereas vegetables (144.79 g), poultry (13.55 g), fish (31.60 g), milk and milk products (95.60 g), eggs (24.83 g), and beans and nuts (8.29 g) did not reach RNI. Among the pregnant women, 48.16% had excessive fruit intake compared with RNI, only 6.53% and 3.67% meet the RNI for vegetables and milk, respectively. Conclusion Nutrients and amount of food taken by most women in early pregnancy did not meet RNIs and reasonable nutrition guidance should be given to them.