Indonesia: 2-year-old boy, Ardi Rizal, hooked on smoking, Dad is not worried
UPDATE: Ardi Rizal is back in the headlines, this time with some good news – he’s kicked the habit.
Indonesian boy Ardi Rizal shocked the world when his 40 smokes a day habit made headlines. Now Ardi, seven years later, has managed to quit the habit, lose weight and become a “champion” at his primary school. With government intervention and the help of intensive specialist care, Ardi’s parents were able to wean him off cigarettes, only to have his addiction replaced with an addiction for food.
Full story HERE
The Indonesian boy took his first drag at 18 months and now at 2 years old he is fully addicted.
The boys father, Mohammad Rizal said, “I’m not worried about his health, he looks healthy. He cries and throws tantrums when we don’t let him smoke. He’s addicted.”
Smoking legislation is being proposed in Indonesia to protect children from tobacco addiction.
Ardi Rizal, who lives in the fishing village of Musi Banyuasin, in Indonesia’s South Sumatra, made headlines for all of the wrong reasons.
Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia’s child protection commission, blames the increase on aggressive advertising and parents who are smokers.
“A law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country,” he said.
Benny Wahyudi, a senior official at the Industry Ministry, said the government had initiated a plan to try to limit the number of smokers, including dropping production to 240 billion cigarettes this year, from 245 billion in 2009.
“The government is aware of the impact of smoking on health and has taken efforts, including lowering cigarette production, increasing its tax and limiting smoking areas,” he said.