In the present study, purified sweet cherry anthocyanins (CACN) were evaluated to determine their inhibitory effects on adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells and their anti-obesity properties in male C57BL/6 mice fed with high-fat diet (HFD). CACN prevented HFD-induced obesity in C57BL/6 mice. In vivo experiment revealed that 40 and 200 mg/kg of CACN in food reduced the body weight by 5.2% and 11.2%, respectively. CACN supplementation could also reduce the size of adipocytes, leptin secretion, serum glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and liver triglycerides. Furthermore, CACN could effectively reduce the expression levels of IL-6 and TNFα genes, markedly increase the SOD and GPx activity. Our results indicated that CACN slowed down the development of HFD-induced obesity in male C57BL/6 mice.