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Eating Disorders A Personal Cause For New Miss America

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By RYAN NAKASHIMA, The Associated Press

Published: January 29, 2008

LAS VEGAS - Just three years ago, newly crowned Miss America Kirsten Haglund says she was eating tiny portions of food and became so thin her concerned parents "dragged me to the doctor."

Haglund was diagnosed with anorexia, and the lack of nutrition caused her collar bones to stick out, her heart rate to drop and her relationships to suffer.

"I would feel fatigued walking up six stairs," says Hag- lund, who won the Miss America pageant Saturday night. "I was a completely different person. It's not a pretty sight."

Haglund, 19, plans to spend her yearlong reign trying to raise awareness of eating disorders, promoting the pageant and helping the Children's Miracle Network - all while maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

To win her crown, the Farmington Hills, Mich., native sang "Over the Rainbow" and walked a crowd-pleasing strut in a black-and-gold bikini.

"You have to have curves," she says proudly. "You can't look like a stick-thin model."

An aspiring Broadway star, Haglund even ate the medallion chocolates left on her pillow in her suite at the pageant's host site, the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

"Oh, my gosh. Yes," she says. "I love chocolate. Chocolates are a girl's best friend."

The 5-foot-8 blonde says she doesn't disclose her weight to avoid setting standards for youths obsessed with getting lighter.

She says she stopped pursuing her dream to become a professional ballerina to escape an environment in which she was rewarded for being slim and an industry that Hag- lund says sweeps concerns about eating disorders under the rug.

The National Eating Disorders Association estimates eating disorders affect 10 million girls and women and about 1 million boys and men in the United States.

Haglund's job begins right away, and on Sunday she caught a plane to New York for a Monday interview on "Live With Regis and Kelly."

Although Haglund says she wasn't about to "let myself go," she didn't plan to skip any meals during her reign.

"I'm going to enjoy my food," she says.

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