PepsiCo is planning to remove sugary drinks from schools around the world by 2012.

This is the first major soda producer to make such a move. It is being done to help fight childhood obesity.

In 2006, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola both agreed to stop selling sugary drinks in U.S. schools. But this new initiative is on a global scale, affecting over 200 countries.

PepsiCo says it will only sell water, fat-free or low-fat milk, and juice with no added sugar to primary schools. Secondary schools will receive all drinks aforementioned as well as low-calories soft drinks, such as Diet Pepsi.

Soft drink marketing overseas is more intense and aggressive than in the U.S.

"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 World Heart Federation, said in an interview from Finland.

However, heath organizations say beating childhood obesity is not as simple as taking soda's out of schools. Students, they say, must also exercise and eat better.