Thursday was Close The Gap Day, and to mark the event Marathon Health's preventative health team hosted the Healthy Start Breakfast Club, held at Kelso Community Hub, and Healthy Cooking Classes, which were held at Marathon Health Greenspace.

Shellie Burgess, portfolio manager with Marathon Health said both activities demonstrate easy and affordable ways to bring good nutrition into every meal.

Ms Burgess said the preventative health team received funding from the Rural Doctors Network which has enabled them to host a five week course with practical demonstrations.

She said the course would encourage people to look at what they were cooking, and make easy modifications to recipes to make them healthier, with everyday meals, like a hamburger still on the menu.

The cooking course is free to attend, and she said all people need to do to be part of the program is call Marathon Health on 6333 2800. 

Ms Burgess said Marathon Health had a number of programs targeting better outcomes for Indigenous Health, including chronic disease management, which offered a one stop service for Indigenous clients to access the services of specialists.

Michelle Duff, who was one of the participants in Thursday's class said it was a great idea.

"A lot of people don't know how to eat healthier meals," she said.

Colin Ellis, also attended saying as a diabetic, better health choices were very important to him.

"It gives me insight into my diet," he said.

National Close the Gap Day is held on the third Thursday in March.

The campaign is a response to the poor health outcomes among indigenous groups in Australia. Studies have shown that the life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 10-17 years lower than that of non-Indigenous Australians.

The main aim of the day is to make people from both indigenous and non-indigenous backgrounds aware of this problem and working together in finding ways to solve it.