photo courtesy of 43kix.com

During her reign as Miss America 2008, Kirsten Haglund helped to bridge the gap between popular culture and an awareness about the prevalence and seriousness of eating disorders.  Since being crowned last January, Kirsten has devoted much of her time and energy to her platform, Raising Awareness for Eating Disorders.  Throughout Kirsten’s year as Miss America she advocated for change and helped focus widespread attention on the important issues surrounding eating disorders.   As a national role model for young girls, Kirsten helped to decrease the stigma associated with seeking help for eating disorders by sharing her own story of recovery from anorexia. As she prepares to crown a new Miss America on January 24th, The Center for Eating Disorders asked Kirsten to reflect on her year of service and her commitment to this very worthy cause.  We are glad to share her informative and inspiring responses below in the first of our three-part series.        

Q & A: PART I of III

Why did you choose eating disorders as part of your platform?

I chose to help raise awareness of Eating Disorders as my platform because I saw a need, having struggled with Anorexia personally for several years. I saw what an incredible opportunity it was to seek to create open dialogue about eating disorders in entertainment media, the fashion and beauty industry, as well as have the access to many young women who look to Miss America as a role model.

It has been an amazing year helping to encourage young women and being outspoken about the fact that these are serious, deadly illnesses, not glamorous, and we as women have the right and the responsibility to define beauty on our own terms, and to love and respect ourselves and our bodies first and foremost.

How are you currently helping others who are battling eating disorders?

I speak to young women on a regular basis, whether they be high school or college girls, young women competing in pageants, dancers, girls in treatment centers or those in hospitals.  There are also many young women recovering from an eating disorder that I continue to correspond with through email, Facebook, and written letters.  I also had the privilege of joining ranks with the Eating Disorders Coalition in Washington D.C., to lobby Congress for the passage of Mental Health Parity (it passed!!!), as well as speak at a Congressional Briefing introducing the FREED act. 

I have done interviews (of the correct nature, with my insistence of responsible content) for [several television entertainment shows] and SHAPE Magazine to expose the dangerous reality of Eating Disorders.  I was also able to help filmmaker Darryl Roberts promote his documentary [America The Beautiful - http://www.eatingdisorder.org/events.php] exposing the world of underage modeling, cosmetic surgery, eating disorders and the perception of American beauty during his premiere in New York City. 

I cannot emphasize how important media attention to this illness as a women’s health issue is to gaining the support and credibility from the public and from the medical community.  I could accurately estimate that in 95% of my interviews conducted all over the country this year, I have been able to talk about Eating Disorders.

Please join us again on Wednesday, January 14th for Part II of The Center for Eating Disorders’ discussion with Kirsten Haglund.