A convenience sample of 142 international and 100 U.S. students attending a Western university completed survey questionnaires designed to assess practices and rationale regarding health foods and health food stores. The most likely international students to patronize health food stores were females who had resided in the United States for more than one year. The most likely U.S. students to patronize these stores were females who had previously shopped in health food stores in their hometowns. No statistically significant differences were found between the international and U.S. students in the mean number of monthly visits to health food stores, the average expenditures per visit, or the average percentage of the monthly food budget spent on health foods. The U.S. students, however, purchased a significantly greater number of items at health foods stores (p =.0001) than the international students. The reason for purchasing food at health food stores receiving the highest mean importance rating from both student samples was that foods purchased at these stores are generally unavailable at conventional supermarkets and grocery stores. The reason receiving the lowest rating was that foods purchased at health food stores are easy to prepare. Products most often purchased by international and U.S. students at health food stores were fresh fruits and vegetables, spices and crackers. © 1989, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Health foods dietary change food Fads Cultural foods Nutrition education

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