Although cardiovascular risk factors relate to family history of cardiovascular disease, it is not clear how the relation changes from children to young adults. As part of a community study for cardiovascular health, parental history of diseases was obtained from 8276 offspring 5 to 31 years old, 36% black and 64% white. Between 5- to 10-year-old children and 25- to 31-year-old young adults, prevalence of parental heart attack increased from 5% to 25%. More prevalent in blacks than in whites, parental stroke increased from 2% to 9% in whites versus 3% to 19% in blacks; parental diabetes rose from 7% to 19% in whites versus 9% to 33% in blacks; and parental hypertension increased from 26% to 59% in whites versus 40% to 72% in blacks. Offspring with parental heart attack history were significantly overweight after 10 years of age and showed elevated levels of total cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, insulin, and glucose after 17 years of age, irrespective of weight. Offspring of diabetic parents were significantly overweight, irrespective of age. They showed significant increases in levels of insulin, glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol after age 24 years, independent of weight. Offspring of hypertensive parents displayed overweight regardless of age, higher levels of blood pressure after age 10 years, and elevations of triglycerides and VLDL cholesterol after age 24 years irrespective of weight. Analyzed by race and sex in young adults, parental heart attack related strongly to LDL cholesterol in the white offspring, especially white males, and to insulin in the black offspring. Parental diabetes showed a stronger association with overweight and glucose in black females. Also noted was the relation between parental hypertension and overweight in black females. Parental history is an important surrogate measure for cardiovascular risk in the offspring. However, parental history information alone is not sufficient to designate younger children for selective screening for high cholesterol, because of the young age of parents.