CHICAGO (WLS) -- The average American consumes 39 pounds of sugar per year from soda and other sweetened drinks. All that sugar can have a harmful effect on your body. To raise awareness about sugar in your diet, more than 100 churches across Illinois are teaming up with the American Heart Association for a Sugarless Sunday on December 18, 2016. This will serve as the launch to a larger campaign beginning January 4, 2017.
Senator Mattie Hunter and others are spearheading a statewide initiative to make every Wednesday during the first quarter of 2017 "Sugarless Wednesday" to create healthier communities. Santrice Martin from the American Heart Association and Bishop Larry Trotter from Sweet Holy Spirit Church sat down with Eyewitness News to talk about Sugarless Sunday and the impact of sugar on the community.