Ex-Miss America -- An Anorexia Survivor -- Blasts This Year's Pageant: The Contestants 'Were Much Too Thin'
Jun. 19 2013, Published 7:14 p.m. ET
Miss America 2008, Kirsten Hagulnd, is concerned about the shrinking bodies she saw at this year’s Miss USA pageant.
The beauty queen, who was 19 when she became the youngest to win the crown, is also an anorexia survivor. In an interview with HufffPost Live, she sounded off about the scary skinny bodies that she saw at this year’s pageant.
"The girls, I thought, were much too thin," Haglund, who started struggling with anorexia when she was only 12 years old, bluntly stated.
"I agree that if you would have tested their BMIs that they probably would have been much too thin. And that's the standard in the modeling industry and the fashion industry as well."
Haglund also said the swimsuit competition portion of the contest isn’t healthy.
“I personally don’t love the swimsuit competition,” she states. “I think it could go.”
She isn’t the only beauty queen who was disturbed by the skinny figures on the stage.
"I was a little shocked too, sitting in the audience and seeing ribcages showing, protruding from these girls' skins,” Miss USA 2003 Susie Castillo agreed. “I was like, 'Wow, these girls...'"
Castillo maintains that when she was crowned, she was more athletic and healthy than the girls today.
"I realize that 10 years ago, when I was Miss USA, I was a lot thinner too, only because I was younger and active. I was an athlete. I wasn't that thin. And I agree that it's going in a way where girls are just super thin," she added.
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