Introduction Burns are a problem in public health that occupies the third leading cause of injury in children worldwide.

Objective Analyse the epidemiology of burns in children and adolescents in the Burns Unit of the Guadalajara Civil Hospital Dr Juan I Menchaca.

Methodology This research is descriptive. Data were obtained through 118 patient clinical records and interviews with their family members from 1 November 2008 to 31 October 2009. The variables studied were: gender, age, injury mechanism, injury agent, degree of burn, place where it happened, place where first medical care was received and time to first medical care after injury.

Results Male gender was three times as frequent as female gender in burns patients (70 vs 48), and also suffered the most severe injuries. The largest age group was the 0–2 years old (48.3% of cases). In the majority, the mechanism of injury was non-intentional. The most common agents were hot liquids (55.9%) and fire (28.0%). The most frequent locations were injury occurred was home, mainly in the kitchen. In 11.0% of patients receive their first medical care after 3:00.

Conclusions The groups at highest risk were children under 3 years old and males; the most frequent burning agent were hot liquids; and the events occurred at home.