Murrumbidgee Local Health District primary schools celebrate meeting Healthy School Canteen Strategy

Murrumbidgee Local Health District health promotion coordinator Alexandra Walker said every public primary school in the region had now met the NSW government guidelines for healthy canteens.

Three quarters of each canteen menu in the region now comprise "everyday" healthy food and drink options, while the remaining 25 per cent are "occasional approved" food and drinks which meet portion guidelines and at least a 3.5 "healthy star rating".

Sturt Public School's canteen manager of 16 years Jo Klimpsch welcomed the news.

"The winners out of all of that are the children in our school community," she said.

"When I first started they had lollies and iced cakes and things like that. Healthy options as well, but they definitely had things we do not have now."

Mrs Klimpsch said the menu at her school was mostly home-cooked and now included more meals, such as spaghetti bolognese.

"For example, [on Monday], I made a batch of fried rice, I made macaroni and cheese from scratch," she said.

"We haven't had packet chips for probably three years. We haven't had any party pies for two years.

"Other schools do, and there are some compliant ones ... we've just found it was easier and better for our children if we really, really reduced the products we had that were rated occasional."

The Murrumbidgee hit its target as a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare revealed the rate of children across the country who are overweight or obese has stabilised, but is still high.

The report, released last week, found one quarter of people aged between two and 17 were overweight in 2017 to 2018.

In the same period, one-in-12 children and teenagers were considered obese. Children, adolescents and young people aged between five and 24 were also more likely to be overweight or obese than people of the same age in 1995.

Disadvantaged children and teenagers were also much more likely to be obese.

Eleven per cent of those living in the lowest socioeconomic areas were obese, more than twice the rate of those living in the highest socioeconomic areas.

"I think that most certainly disadvantage is what preoccupies our hearts and our action," Ms Walker said.

"Where there is a disadvantage, that's where we focus more of our resources and energy and time."

"It is a bit of a reflection on the Murrumbidgee because we do have areas that are remote and most of our locations are in rural NSW too.

"The further you are away from services, the less access you have to food supply."