This study describes the application of the stages of change construct to fat intake by examining the associations of the stages of change with nutritional status and beliefs on health behavior. Data were obtained from apparently healthy 596 adults(326 females and 270 males) residing in large cities. Stages of change assessed by an algorithms based on 6 items were designed each subject into one of the 5 stages: precontemplation(PC), contemplation(CO), preparation(PR), action(AC) and maintenance(MA). Beliefs on health behavior were assessed by self efficacy as well as 4 belief scales from the Locus of Illness Control(LIC) developed using factor analysis such as internal disease cure and prevention and external disease cure and prevention. Energy and fat intakes were measured by a 39 item short form food frequency questionnaire. Regarding the 5 stages of change, MA stage comprised the largest group(37.9%), followed by Ac(30.7%), PC(11.4%), CO(10.4%) and PR(9.6%). Subjects who were females, older or healthier were more likely to belong to either AC or MA. Stage assignment of individuals was corroborated by their nutritional variables. Those in PC had the most energy and fat and those in MA ate the least for females. BMI was higher in PR than any other stages for both males and females. Those in PC were distinctive in that they were more externally oriented in terms of health control showing higher scores on external disease prevention(for males) and external disease cure(for females), and lower score on internal disease cure. On the other hand, those in MA received the highest scores on internal disease prevention and self efficacy, which suggested that they were more internally oriented. Canonical discriminant function analysis indicated that the 5 stages were importantly discriminated by BMI, self efficacy, internal disease prevention and external disease prevention for males and by fat intake, self efficacy and external disease cure variables for females. The results of our study confirm differences in stages of change in fat intake in terms of nutritional status and beliefs on heath behavior and indicate the need for taking these phases of change into account in nutrition advice. (Korean J Nutrition 34(2) : 222-229, 2001)