Background:

Over the past decades, Mexico’s health landscape has shifted from infectious to non-communicable diseases and violence, mirroring lifestyle, urbanization, and developmental changes.

Objective:

To describe the impact of risk factors on health in Mexico from 1990 to 2021.

Material and methods:

Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study estimates, we describe risk factor-related mortality and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) in Mexico (1990-2021) by age, sex, and state of the country.

Results:

In 2021, risk factors led to 14.9 (12.9-16.7) million DALYs, which accounted for 32.4 % of Mexico’s burden. Metabolic risks, with 19.8% (17.0-21.9 %) were the main contributors. From 1990 to 2021, the age-standardized all-cause mortality rate associated with metabolic risks increased by 6.5%, while behavioral and environmental risks decreased by more than 50%, with marked variations between states. The predominant risk factors shifted from malnutrition and unsafe water and sanitation in 1990 to high glucose and body mass index in 2021. Malnutrition-related risks have the highest impact on health loss in children younger than 5 years.

Conclusions:

Mexico faces a dual health challenge: childhood malnutrition persists, and adult metabolic risks are on the rise, particularly in less developed states, with targeted interventions for traditional and emerging health threats being required.