It not unusual for women with anorexia to suffer heart attacks.

Anorexia was there for me before I got into modeling, but because of the arena and the demands, the disease really got out of control for me. It's like being an alcoholic and going and being a bartender.

Just as young people absorb all kinds of messages from the media, young girls learn what it means to be a woman by watching the older women in their lives.

I think that we can't deny the public's want for balancing out the images that are out there depicting women. Not all of us are 17 and a size two.

I've learned to surround myself with women who lift me up and leave me feeling nurtured rather than drained.

While women across the globe have many differences - language, culture, environment - our similarities are undeniable, and the impact of abuse and oppression affects us all.