Cardiovascular (CV) hemodynamic characteristics are major risk factors for heart disease. Cross-sectional surveys of 5,976 individuals 47% maleS: 63% Whites), aged 4 to 44 years, and a subset of 1,365 individuals examined both in childhood and in adulthood were examined for blood pressure and heart rate along with cardiovascular risk factors In early childhood, Whites showed significantly faster heart rate than Blacks, at adolescence, blood pressure levels became greater ill Blacks The Systolic blood pressure times heart rate. the double product. ill childhood (Whites > Blacks) is reversed in adulthood (Blacks > Whites). A "crossover" at the young adult age occurs The crossover was observed at around 20 years ill females ill(] 25 years In males Multivariate analyses indicated age, race, and homeostasis model of insulin resistance were independently related to the double product Further, there was it significant interaction between age and race These hemodynamic Parameters change with increasing age with a crossover pattern of the pressure-rate product between the different races ill young adults Changes in the double product suggest a greater sympathetic nervous system activation occuring in Blacks reaching adulthood Although not measured, central vs peripheral sympathetic-parasympathetic balance, which determine hemodynamic characteristics, is influenced by increasing obesity and carbohydrate-insulin metabolic changes in adulthood hemodynamic parameters create a cardiovascular burden over time producing subtle, subclinical disease of the cardiovascular system Control of obesity ill the population remains critical (C) 2008 American Society of Hypertension All rights reserved