Aims To observe the nutritional status change in patients with gastric cancer before and after surgery, so as to explore the current situation of implementation of nutritional support after gastrectomy in China. Methods The clinical data for patients who underwent radical gastrectomy were collected. The patients were divided into proximal (PG) group, distal (DG) group, or total (TG) group according to the surgical procedures. The average protein intake, non-protein energy intake and nutritional support time; the serum nutrition items (TP, ALB, HGB; liver and renal function indicators) before and after surgery and the postoperative complications in all groups were recorded. The results are analyzed statistically. Results A total of 74 gastric cancer patients (16 PG, 29 DG, 19 TG) in the department of general surgery in Beijing Shijitan Hospital in China between March 2011 to December 2014 were selected for this study, 57 man and 17 women, aged 31-84 years old (58.66±12.41 years). Implementation of postoperative nutritional support were carried out for all 74 patients. The average total protein intake were 0.82±0.28 g/Kg/d; non-protein calorie intake was 20.23±4.44 Kcal/Kg/d; both the protein intake and non-protein calorie intake had reached the recommended levels by nutritional guidelines in China. There is no significant difference between different surgical procedures (P>0.05). The levels of TP, ALB, HGB were deceased at the first day after surgery (P<0.05), however at the eighth day, the levels were increased(P<0.05). Conclusions This study demonstrated that gastric cancer patients had significant changes in the nutritional status during the perioperative period. The postoperative nutritional support is routinely given to the patients in China currently, and the nutritional status can be improved significantly. Thus, it is necessary to implement postoperative nutritional support in strict accordance to the Chinese guidelines for gastric cancer patients.