The guideline rules forbidden intake of clear liquids for 2 h, breast milk for 4 h, milk or milk formula for 6 h and fried food or lipid for 8 h. However, excessive preoperative fasting is common in clinical practice. This review mainly describes the status of preoperative fasting in children, current international guidelines, and the related clinical studies of preoperative fasting were discussed aiming to avoid unnecessary over fast.