Background: Malnutrition, anemia and micronutrient deficiency are significant issues of public health in Vietnam. Before development of modeling for prevention of malnutrition in the community, the author investigated the diet of children 2-5 years old. Objective: This study was conducted to describe the dietary intake of children 2-5 years old in order to provide preventive interventions accordingly. Results: The diet of children in the study was defficent in quantity and quality and not meet the Vietnam Dietary Reference Intake of energy, vitamins (B1, B2, A), minerals (calcium, iron, zinc) and imbalance of proportion of energy and nutrients. Conclusions and Recommendations: The dietary intake of children are poor, and did not meet the Dietary Reference Intake for children of this age. There is a need to promote the nutrition education to upgrade the knowledge and practice of the mothers to improve the nutritional status of children in the disadvantaged areas.