LAS VEGAS - Just three years ago, newly crowned Miss America Kirsten Haglund was eating tiny portions of food and became so thin she said 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," the 19-year-old Haglund said Sunday, a day after being crowned Miss America 2008.
"I was a completely different person. It's not a pretty sight."
Haglund plans to spend her yearlong reign trying to raise awareness of eating disorders, promoting the pageant and helping the Children's Miracle Network while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and exercise.
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 to clinch the title.
"You have to have curves," she said proudly.
"You can't look like a stick-thin model."
The aspiring Broadway star even ate the silver medallion chocolates left on her pillow in her suite at the host site, the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.
"Yes, oh my gosh, yes," she said.
"I love chocolate. Chocolates are a girl's best friend."
The 5-foot-8 blonde said she doesn't disclose her weight to avoid setting standards for youths obsessed with being lighter.
She said 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 Haglund said sweeps concerns about eating disorders under the rug.
The National Eating Disorders Association estimates eating disorders affect 10 million girls and women and about one million boys and men in the United States.
Haglund's job begins right away and Sunday she caught a plane to New York City for a Monday interview on "Live With Regis and Kelly."
While the teen said she isn't about to "let myself go," she doesn't plan to skip any meals over her crowning year.
"I'm going to enjoy my food," she said.
