Fig. 1

The body weight, Body length, Abdominal circumference, Lee’s index, Blood lipid, FPG and insulin values in all 4 groups. Body weight, abdominal circumference, Lee’s index and TC level were higher in the HFD (high-fat diet and sedentary group) and HFDE (high-fat diet and exercise group) groups than in the ND (normal diet and sedentary group) and NDE (normal diet and exercise group) groups (all P values < 0.05) after 8 weeks of diet feeding, and higher body weight, abdominal circumference, Lee’s index, TC and TG levels were al recorded in the HFD and HFDE groups compared to the ND and NDE groups at 16 weeks (all P values < 0.05). At 24 weeks (after swimming exercise), Lee’s index, TG and TC levels were lower in the HFDE group than in the HFD group (all P values < 0.05). In addition, body weight, abdominal circumference, Lee’s index, TG and TC levels were higher in the HFD group than in the ND and NDE groups (all P values < 0.05). Significantly reduced Lee’s index, serum TG, LDL and insulin levels (all P values < 0.05) and significantly increased body size (P < 0.05) in the HFDE group after swimming exercise in relation to the values before swimming exercise, while significantly decreased Lee’s index and TG level (all P values < 0.05) and significantly increased body weight, body size and abdominal circumference (all P values < 0.05) were found in the NDE group after swimming exercise as compared to those before swimming exercise (Fig. 1). *, p < 0.05 compared with ND and **,p < 0.01 compared with ND;#, p < 0.05 compared with NDE and ##, p < 0.01 compared with NDE;£,p < 0.05 compared with HFD and ££,p < 0.01 compared with HFD;§, p < 0.05 compared with 16th, §§, p < 0.01compared with 16th