New York, Mar 17 (THAINDIAN NEWS) PepsiCo has said in a statement that they will not sell sugary drinks in schools worldwide, in an effort to battle obesity in children. In a statement on Tuesday they said that they would remove all the full-calorie, sweetened drinks from schools in more than 200 countries by the year 2012. This move by PepsiCo is an effort to curb childhood obesity, is also the first such move by a major soft drink producer.

This landmark move came on the heels of the World Heart Federation, which has been pleading with the soft drink companies to stall the sale of sugary drinks and beverages in schools, since a year. They wanted to remove them from the school’s canteen menu, as they are a major player in childhood obesity, which can also give rise to diabetes, heart problems apart from other ailments as well.

“It may be not so well known in the U.S. how intensive the marketing of soft drinks is in so many countries,” Pekka Puska, president of the group said in an interview from Finland. He also added that many developing countries such as Mexico, are influenced a lot by their strong marketing. Another software drink company – Coca Cola is also planning to change their global sale policy, in view of the childhood obesity problem.