Effect of Diet and Exercise on the Peripheral Immune System in Young Balb/c Mice

Figure 1

Body mass index (BMI). The BMI is determined by the formula BMI = mass (g)/length  (cm)². Data indicate that the BMI increased during the experiment for all subgroups [(BMI at week 12) − (BMI at week 4)]. In the sedentary and exercised mice, both unbalanced diets (carbohydrate-rich and fat-rich) led to a greater increase in BMI than the standard (balanced) diet. Although the increase in BMI was similar for each diet when comparing the exercised and sedentary groups, it was indeed significantly lower in the exercised group (Bonferroni test: for the carbohydrate-rich diet; for the fat-rich diet; for the standard diet). Data are expressed as the mean ± SD ( per treatment group).