Studies these days are often done using accelerometers to assess physical activity. I conducted one recently on chronically ill people (cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, kidney failure etc) to look at their activity levels. We age and gender matched healthy controls to the chronic illness group. There was no difference in the average activity levels. Both were alarmingly low, few of the healthy controls walked more than a mile a day.
Healthy people were as active as people who have got an excuse for being less active.
We who produce studies like this don't just make up the facts - unlike the papers which report them.