The Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at St. Cloud State University is holding a fashion show to promote positive body image and raise money for the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. The event will feature people of all shapes and sizes walking the runway. It is accompanied by a speaker, Kelly Doss, who will share her experience with anorexia. Doss nearly died from the eating disorder and now works to support those struggling. The goal is to show that every body is beautiful and to help reduce the stigma around eating disorders.

1. Fashion show promotes positive body image
Health news(Photo: Times graphic)
Fashion shows aren't stereotypically the place to find diverse body shapes and positive body images.
The Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at St. Cloud State University aims to change that. The young women
do so with a mission: raise money for the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated
Disorders, a nonprofit dedicated to eating disorder prevention.
The fashion show marks National Eating Disorder Awareness Week and is accompanied by speaker
Kelly Doss. Doss will relate her experience with anorexia that nearly led her to multiple organ
failure.
Both are 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Ritsche Auditorium. Admission is $5.
Doss said the fashion show and someone's ability to be on stage, proclaiming their confidence, is a
powerful statement.
"It says, 'I'm not going to be dictated by, for one, what the media says is beautiful or perfect. I will
not punish my body or do unnatural things. ... This is me. This is what you get,' " she said.
The show will feature people of all shapes and sizes, as the name describes, including men and
women.
"It promotes that everyone's beautiful, inside and out," said junior Chelsea Montag, co-chair of the
event.
This is the second year for the event. Last year, the group had someone from CentraCare speak
about the physical cost of eating disorders. This year, Doss brings perspective on the emotional and
physical aspects of the disease.
Doss's illness began when she was a freshman in college and continued through graduate school,
progressing until she had to take medical leave to go to an inpatient program.

2. Eating disorders are about so much more than food, said Doss, a SCSU alumna.
"It's more than just the behaviors," she said. "People think that if you just eat, everything would go
away. But there's so much underneath the surface."
Many people end up with multiple diagnoses like Doss, who was diagnosed with anorexia, self-harm
and depression.
Doss also leads a peer support group on campus for people struggling with eating disorders or body
image.
The group meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays at the Newman Center.
Doss has spoken about her illness to smaller groups, but in a more general, detached way. With the
program on Wednesday, she hopes to keep it personal.
"It's always going to be part of me," Doss said. "I don't see myself as that person anymore, but it's
always in the back of my head."
She's kept journals from throughout her recovery so she can see how far she has come.
"It really puts into perspective that I'm becoming the woman I'm meant to become. I've gone from
somebody who hated myself to someone accepting myself," she said.
Doss eventually returned to grad school to get her master's degree in political science. She is now
the executive director of Arc Kandiyohi County, an organization out of Willmar that advocates for
people with developmental disabilities.
ANAD is part of the national sorority's fundraising philanthropy projects, said Shelby Illg, a junior at
St. Cloud State and co-chair for the event. Other chapters across the U.S. have had similar fashion
shows to raise money.
"I feel like eating disorders are so common. ... So many people know someone. I know a few people
personally," Illg said.
The sorority hopes to promote justice, sisterhood and love, which this program fits into.
"It's kind of one of those things, to love yourself, love your body and love others. ... We're very
passionate about it," she said.
The sorority had a variety of activities all week to give people information about eating disorders and
to find help. They worked with Active Minds, a mental health advocacy group on campus.
Montag worked at a table at Atwood Memorial Center on Monday. The theme that day was
educating people about how the media can distort self image.
"We were telling people to go around (and) say something nice to someone. ... Tell them they're
perfect the way that they are. ... (Students) seem to really love that," she said. "People walked away
feeling pretty good about themselves."

3. For more information about the organization benefiting from the fundraiser, visit www.anad.org.
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