Clinton battles child obesity with less sodas, more juices (AFP)

NEW YORK (AFP) - Former president Bill Clinton, once a chubby child himself, announced that soft drink makers had agreed to replace high-calorie sodas sold in schools with healthier drinks in an effort to curb child obesity.

"This is a step forward in a struggle to help more than 35 million American young people live healthier lives," Clinton said in a press conference at the William J. Clinton Foundation in New York.

The former US leader, who launched an anti-obesity campaign after undergoing heart surgery, said nine million children are overweight today and 70 percent risk becoming overweight or obese as adults. He warned that these children could have a lower life expectancy than their parents.

"We should know this is a big challenge for the United States and for the world," Clinton said. "It has on the surface a simple solution: To help children reduce the number of calories they consume and increase the number they burn."

The beverage industry agreed to new guidelines capping the number of calories available in beverages at schools at 100 calories per container, Clinton's foundation said.

Under the new guidelines, only water, milk and juices will be sold in elementary schools. Middle schools will apply the same standards, except bigger containers will be available.

In high schools, half the drinks will be water and low-calorie selections. Light juices and sports drinks will be available, as well as milk, juices and 100 percent juices.

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative between Clinton's foundation and the American Heart Association, worked with Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and the American Beverage Association to create the new guidelines.

Clinton, who once described himself as "the fat band boy" while growing up in Arkansas, launched an anti-obesity campaign in 2005, several months after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery that he blamed on a lifetime of unhealthy eating.