Abstract： Objective To provide scientific evidence for nutrition therapy and health education for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods Based on body mass index (BMI),75 newly admitted T2DM patients were assigned to the normal body-weight group and the over-weight group.Three days before admission,their dietary status was investigated.The average energy intake was compared with the average standard supply.The energy from protein,fat or carbohydrate and the intake of fiber were compared with the recommendations from the American Diabetes Association (ADA).The intake of other nutrient was compared with the recommended nutrient intakes (RNI) or adequate intakes (AI).Results Compared with the standard supply,the average energy intake of the normal body-weight group was significantly decreased (t =2.61,P ＜ 0.05 ),however the average energy intake of the overweight group was significantly increased (t =3.91,P＜0.05).The percentage of energy from protein of the two groups was significantly higher than target levels ( t values were 13.23,21.13 respectively; all P ＜ 0.05 ) ; the percentage of energy from protein of the two groups was significantly higher than target levels (t values were 5.36,10.66 respectively ; all P ＜ 0.05 ) ; however,the percentage of energy from carbohydrate was lower in both groups ( t values were 6.94,15.76 respectively; all P ＜ 0.05 ) ; the average intake of fiber were also lower in both groups (t values were 26.54,40.80 respectively ; all P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion The participants showed insufficient knowledge on healthy diet.Health education could play a role in balanced diet and energy intake.