Two groups of children, comparable in age and weight were studied. The first, the Starvation Group (SG), underwent normal preoperative starvation. The second, the Milk Group (MG), received milk orally 4 hours prior to operation. At operation the mean blood glucose concentration was 53.3 mg/100 ml in the SG and 66.4 mg/100 ml in the MG. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Hypoglycaemia occurred only in those children in the SG who were less than 47 months of age and 15.5 kg body weight.