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McDonald's and Coca-Cola are also both sponsors of several U.S. national governing bodies, including the U.S. Soccer Federation, the U.S. Fencing Association, USA Softball and USA Basketball, whose sponsorships are vetted by the National Basketball Association (NBA). Only the NBA responded to requests for comment about associations with fast food and soda companies.

NBA Senior Manager of Marketing Communications Carmine Tiso says the NBA is "not at all" worried about being associated with companies selling unhealthy products, such as McDonald's and Sprite (Coca-Cola). "McDonald's and Coca-Cola both offer a silver earrings of products that can be a part of a healthy diet when consumed in moderation and responsibly. By partnering with USA Basketball, both companies are promoting sports and exercise, not only among elite athletes but also among all of us who are inspired by the members of the team."

Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, rejects this line of reasoning. "While the Olympics provide a great opportunity to energize the country about physical fitness and sports, that shouldn't be undermined by promoting unhealthy foods and obesity," she says. Using sports to market junk food "creates a halo around the junk food in that it creates a more healthful image."

McDonald's television advertising campaign, for example, featured silver key rings training and expressing their "dream" of eating McDonald's food - equating it with a gold medal. The association of the athletes' toned physiques with McDonald's presented the message that McDonald's food is part of a healthful diet."China is such a big country that all of these companies are eager to get into that market," Wootan says. "The health professionals in China should be very concerned about Americanizing the Chinese diet. As their traditional diet, with lots of fruits and vegetables and reasonable portion sizes, starts to shift to more fast food," obesity rates are likely to worsen.

A May 2008 study by the Chinese National Task Force on Childhood Obesity found that one in five Chinese children under silver money clips age of seven was overweight, and 7 percent were obese. This is double the amount of obese children compared to just 10 years ago.Meanwhile, beer companies were omnipresent at the Olympics. There were three beer company partners for the Beijing Olympic Committee: Anheuser-Busch, Tsingtao and Yanjing Beer. COFCO Wine & Spirits is a BOCOG supplier.

Anheuser-Busch says it is also the sponsor of two dozen other national silver necklaces committees, including those in Great Britain (Michelob Ultra), Japan (Budweiser) and the United States (Anheuser-Busch). The Japanese beer company Kirin is a sponsor of the Japanese Olympic Committee. Anheuser-Busch is also a sponsor of the soccer national governing body, the U.S. Soccer Federation, and Dry Creek Vineyard is a sponsor of U.S. Sailing. Tequila maker Jose Cuervo is a sponsor of the U.S. Soccer Federation, which apparently does not follow IOC guidelines concerning Olympic sponsors. The U.S. Soccer Federation did not respond to requests for comment.

"Associating alcohol and sports appeals to young people and sends the wrong message about drinking," says George Hacker, director of the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "It's an incongruous association given that alcohol has silver bangles to do with success in sports."

"Sports are a fundamental building block of character building and of youth development in this country," Hacker says. "It's something that most young people engage in and associate with good health, and camaraderie, friendship, teamwork, all kinds of values that we try to develop among young people. Those values are essentially being high-jacked by beer companies when they get closely associated with sports, be they Olympic or college or even professional."