Actress Kate Hudson has slammed rumours she's battling an eating disorder, insisting she will "never have" the problem as she is determined to be a good role model for young girls.

Speculation surfaced that the Almost Famous star's petite frame was due to an eating disorder, but Hudson has shut down the reports in an interview with America's Red magazine.

She insists, "If there is one thing I will never have, it is an eating disorder. I won't have girls - even if it is just one or two who care - thinking that. Because it is a serious sickness, not something to plaster on the cover of a magazine. And I am the opposite...

"I want girls to love themselves. I want them to feel good about who they are... The thing is, I'm lucky because I was loved. But I have seen so many young women who can't feel good about themselves because they just don't have...that love."

It isn't the first time Hudson has had to fight back at similar rumours - in 2006, she hit bosses of the National Enquirer with a lawsuit over an article suggesting she suffered from an eating disorder and describing her as "painfully thin".

The actress said the statements were a "blatant lie" and subsequently won the legal battle, with the tabloid executives issuing an apology and compensation.