© ARDILES RANTE / BARCROFT MEDIA
A two-year-old has developed a 40-a-day habit after being given his first cigarette at just 18 months old.
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Toddler Ardi Rizal is so hooked on smoking that he throws a tantrum when he can’t have a fag.
“He treats cigarettes like another meal,” said his mum Diana Rizal, 26. “I try to distract him with toys and games, but nothing works.”
Although he’s only just learn to walk, Ardi is already getting through four packets of cigarettes a day and his mum is at her wits end.
© ARDILES RANTE / BARCROFT MEDIA
At their home in Sumatra, Indonesia, Ardi screams and shouts if anyone tries to stop him smoking.
His first dose of tobacco came from his father Mohammed, 30, a fishmonger, when he was a year and a half old.
© ARDILES RANTE / BARCROFT MEDIA
“He looks pretty healthy to me,” he said, “I don’t really see the problem.”
His mother meanwhile has been trying to cut down his addiction for the past six months, with little success.
© ARDILES RANTE / BARCROFT MEDIA
She blames herself for smoking while pregnant with Ardi.
Ardi is also overweight and his mum worries that his obsession with smoking is stopping him from running around and slimming down his four stone body.
© ARDILES RANTE / BARCROFT MEDIA
“He smokes like an adult,” said his dad. “He has already learned to blow smoke rings and blows smoke through his nose.”
Words by Isabel Jensen
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What parents would let their child do that. I think it is pretty stupid.
What a classic example of child abuse because of a lack of educations, we spend so much on weapons and war and so little on health care and education. We should be putting our foreign aid somewhere it can do goodd
Ridiculous…is an understatement for the parents…
Why would a parent let there freaking child SMOKE A CIGARETTE let alone at the age of a year old that’s just the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard and also 40 a day is that really necessary .