Gia Dougherty is currently Miss Greater Des Moines in the Miss America program. She will be competing for Miss Iowa in June and will be promoting her platform of body positivity. Here is her story!
“When I was 15 years old I went for an annual physical checkup the summer going into my Sophomore year of high school. I expected this check up to go just as smoothly as every other check up in the past. As my doctor came back in the room from completing my physical, I’ll never forget the amount of informational packets and brochures she had in her hand. She set this pile down and started asking me a range of questions starting with “How do you feel when you look at yourself in the mirror”. Without hesitation I remember thinking "someone who still has a lot of weight to lose”. I then proceeded to tell the doctor my thoughts. I looked back in the mirror to see a girl looking back at me, who weighed 99 pounds, had lost her menstrual cycle, and was losing her hair. I had dropped 20 pounds in about 2 months. I knew deep down I had a problem but I had never talked about it to anyone. I knew it wasn’t right to run or workout the moment after I ate because I was too scared to gain weight from eating. I knew it wasn’t right to mash up my food on my plate and move it around to make it look like I had eaten. I knew it wasn’t ok to have lied to my parents while they were at work, telling them I had eaten even though every time they were at work I did not eat at all. But I never knew that I was suffering from a mental health disorder.
I thought what I had was only physical and I could fix it easily if I just started eating more. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate out of any mental health disease. 1 in 5 of those deaths are from suicide. The common misconception is that someone who has an eating disorder makes the “choice” of not wanting to eat. Some even go as far as saying “girls just do it for attention”. An eating disorder is both physical and mental and needs medical treatment to have the greatest chance of recovery. In today’s society unfortunately, eating disorders have become normalized because of how common they are. These statistics are not ok with me, and we can change this by supporting one another and stop stereotyping what someone with an eating disorder "should look like". We can make a difference.
If you are worried that someone close to you, or yourself, is struggling with an eating disorder please contact me for information on how to get help. You’re not alone and there are people out there who will believe your story and won’t “normalize” what you are going though. You can overcome this.”
- Gia Dougherty, Miss Greater Des Moines 2018 / Owner of the Body Acceptance Project
image id: This image is a professional photograph of Gia, a feminine presenting person. She is standing in a photo studio with medium length, blond hair and she is wearing a blue sleeveless top while holding a local Miss America titleholder crown. There is black and white text over a semi-opaque green box. The text reads, “Mental Health Awareness Month” “Story Spotlight” and “Gia Dougherty”. /end id
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