HispanicBusiness

PepsiCo has given itself a challenge.

The Fortune 500 company today announced that it would pull all its full-calorie sugary products from schools around the world by 2012.

The company made the pledge as a way to show that it wants to do its part in the fight against childhood obesity, and came on the same day first lady Michelle Obama urged food companies to include less salt, sugar and fat in their products for children.

Officials say schools in Mexico could be particularly affected by the change, as school children in the country experience heavy marketing to purchase soda, the Associated Press reports.

Pepsi's Tuesday announcement seemed a kind of one-up of an earlier pledge this month by its arch rival, Coca-Cola, to stop selling sugary beverages in elementary schools around the globe unless parents or school officials request it. Coca-Cola's new policy doesn't apply to high schools.

The move has largely already been made in the United States, where sales of full-calorie soft drinks have plummeted 95 percent since 2004, according to AP.