Raising Awareness of Eating Disorders

After serving as the honorary chairwoman of the Overlook Hospital Foundation Passion to Lead Gala in September, Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund appeared as the featured speaker at the Foundation's Thomas Glasser Lecture Series event on October 29 at The Grand Summit Hotel.

Throughout her yearlong reign, Miss Haglund is traveling across America speaking to audiences about her platform - Raising Awareness of Eating Disorders. While in her early teens, she struggled with anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight. Today, as a healthy 20-year-old, she is spreading the word to adolescents and their parents alike that this issue has become an epidemic in need of serious attention at both the national and local levels.

Miss America's engagement is the third in a series of lectures on health and the public interest made possible by a generous gift from the Thomas Glasser Foundation and endowed through the Overlook Hospital Foundation.