A new study finds 76 percent of the foods featured in sports sponsorships are junk — and they’re reaching millions of kids. There’s a reason sports heroes like Michael Jordan have been appearing on cereal boxes for decades. Food and beverage companies have learned that spending billions of dollars on marketing targeted at kids as young as age 2 can sway the food choices they make for a lifetime. It’s why children ask for Frosted Flakes instead of apples in the morning — and it’s a big and often ignored piece of the obesity epidemic puzzle.