My anecdotal evidence backs this up. Since the pandemic started I've been doing a ton more cardio and my overall energy expenditure must be as high as it's ever been. I haven't adjusted my diet. But I'm the same weight I was before.

Also, I've known several obese people during my life who exercise. Some of them I would never even see eating but cycled to work every day and it's a mystery how they remain so large.

This further backs up what a lot of people already know: losing weight is mostly about eating less, not exercising more. Exercising is good but we should really break the association with weight loss. Most fat people I know who adopted exercise just ended up eating even more than they did before which is only going to have a negative overall effect.

Unfortunately, the idea of jogging and sweating in the gym is more glamorous and easier to sell than hunger.