The strategy, which was set to be published in January or February, has been delayed until later this year as it needs more work doing to it, the Department of Health (DH) has confirmed.
The DH previously announced that the strategy would be announced by the end of last year.
Russell Viner, officer for health promotion for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the delay is cause for concern.
“With every day that passes, more children are at risk of developing serious conditions associated with obesity, including type two diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma," he said.
“So yet another delay in the publication of the government’s childhood obesity strategy gives great cause for concern.
“We call on the government to give a definitive date, and urge them to publish their strategy sooner rather than later; before more children fall foul of this terrible condition.”
Izzi Seccombe, community and wellbeing spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said an urgent strategy is needed.
"It is disappointing that the childhood obesity strategy has been delayed. Childhood obesity risks triggering a ticking time bomb of major illness and disease later on in life,” she said.
“This also has the potential to cripple an overburdened NHS, which is currently spending £5bn a year on obesity-related conditions and social care.
“Councils have proposed how we tackle this in a number of ways, including clearer labelling of sugar content, calorie counts on menus, sugar reduction in soft drinks, and we hope these are among the measures being considered.”
Seccombe added: “With the number of obese adults in the country forecast to soar by a staggering 73 per cent to 26 million people over the next 20 years, we need an urgent, radical strategy to tackle what is one of the biggest health issues in the 21st century.”
Andrew Furber, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: "Tackling childhood obesity is a matter of urgency and it is disappointing if the government's strategy is again delayed.
"There is a compelling case for strong national action to complement the range of actions being taken forward by Directors of Public Health locally."
