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This prospective case-control study was conducted on 105 consecutive cases admitted to the burn units of Dhaka Shishu Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The same number of controls were selected randomly from the community and matched with respect to age group, sex, and location of residence within the defined metropolitan area during the period January to September 1997. Both the controls and cases were divided into three age groups. Group A (19 controls and 19 cases) included neonates and infants, group B included children from 1 to 4 years, and group C included children from 4 to 12 years. The mean age of the controls in group A was 8.42+/-3.86 months and in group B and C was 5.72+/-4.05 years. The mean age of cases in group A was 4.79+/-4.05 months and in group B and C was 5.08+/-2.87 years. A scoring system was used to analyze 14 socioeconomic and cultural factors, which indicated highly significant differences between controls and cases (P < 0.001), and also between male (P < 0.001) and female (P < 0.001) controls and cases. There were significant differences between controls and cases in group A (P < 0.001), group B (P < 0.01), and group C (P < 0.001). Differences were not significant between males and females within groups A, B, and C for cases or controls (P > 0.05). Regression analysis of the total scores for cases and controls indicated a negative correlation between burns and the socioeconomic variables included in the study. There were highly significant associations between burns and lack of alertness to burns among parents (P < 0.001), clothing of manmade fabrics (P < 0.001), and cooking equipment in the kitchen within reach of children (P < 0.001). There was a significant association between burns and illiteracy of the mother (P < 0.01), housing located in slums and congested areas (P < 0.01), illiteracy of the father (P < 0.02), presence of preexisting impairment in children (P < 0.05), presence of a history of burns among siblings (P < 0.05), and low economic status of the parents (P < 0.05). No significant associations were indicated between controls and cases with respect to number of children in the family (P > 0.1), family pattern (P > 0.1), conjugal bonding between parents (P > 0.5), and sibling's death and disability from burns (P > 0.5). It is evident that an increase in alertness to burns, easy availability of clothing of natural fabrics, keeping cooking equipment beyond the reach of the children, increased literacy among parents and children, and improvement in family income might decrease the incidence of burns in children.