Cardio is great, but it’s not like its the only thing that’s worthwhile. Walking a mile and running a mile burn basically the same amount of calories, so walking several miles a day is a great (and easy) way to avoid obesity.
I am firmly convinced that our current obesity situation is because we don’t work out at the gym enough, but that many of us have basically stopped walking anywhere. Walkable cities, for example, are slim cities. Having slow, steady calorie burning folded in as a seamless part of daily life is gold.
But there’s a difference between good cardiovascular fitness and healthy body weight. Yes, low intensity walking burns calories and means you have to eat a lot more to be fat. At the same time, if you aren’t walking such that you have elevated heart rate then it’s not really improving your cardiovascular fitness.