2 year old boy smokes '40 cigs a day'

[Cammy]

May 30, 2010
Boy smokes '40 cigs a day'

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Chubby Ardi Rizal laughs and responds to the adults around him as he sits on his plastic tricycle and inhales deeply from frequent drags on a cigarette. His father reportedly gave him his first cigarette when he was 18 months old and now he smokes 40 a day. -- PHOTO: YOUTUBE<object height="385" width="480">


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JAKARTA - A NEW video of a smoking Indonesian toddler has emerged to shock health experts and provide further graphic illustration of the South-east Asian country's growing addiction to tobacco. The parents of a two-year-old boy seen smoking in a clip posted on The Sun newspaper's website are to be investigated, Indonesian officials said after the video drew worldwide attention.

Chubby Ardi Rizal laughs and responds to the adults around him as he sits on his plastic tricycle and inhales deeply from frequent drags on a cigarette. His father reportedly gave him his first cigarette when he was 18 months old and now he smokes 40 a day. His mother says he beats his head against the wall unless he gets nicotine, but his father insists he is 'healthy'.

Child Protection Ministry official Heru Kasidi said the family would be investigated for what would be considered a clear case of child abuse in many countries. It's the second time this year Indonesia has been embarrassed by such media coverage. Another video was posted on the Internet last month showing an Indonesian boy aged about four puffing on a locally made clove cigarette, blowing smoke rings and swearing with the encouragement of adults.

Weak regulations - Indonesia is the only country in South-east Asia not to have signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control - have enabled tobacco companies to target young Indonesians with advertising and events promotions. Anti-smoking activists and health experts say Indonesia is a paradise for the tobacco industry, which has been aggressively expanding sales in the country of about 240 million people.

'The regulations on the tobacco industry in Indonesia are weak. They protect the shareholders in the industry more than the people,' activist Kartono Mohamad said. 'The people in Indonesia are fighting alone against the tobacco industry, the government and the policy makers. It's one against three.' -- AFP

 

[Leongsam]

Let them kill themselves. The earlier they depart, the better. The rest of us will be better off.

 

[kensington]

He will die before he reaches his teenage years, most probably from stroke or heart complications.

But good for the kretek commercials, though....

 

[Ramseth]

He will die before he reaches his teenage years, most probably from stroke or heart complications.

But good for the kretek commercials, though....

Remember not so many moons and cycles around the sun ago when any human being could drink straight from any river and live a perfectly healthy long life? Children smoking is common in rural Indonesia, Indochina, China, India, Africa and even South America, though this toddler featured here probably breaks the record. Rather than dying young, they're most likely to build up immunity to adverse effect of nicotine provided they also have the essential nutrition intake. Trouble is, building up immunity to an addictive substance such as nicotine most likely entails lifelong addiction.

 

[kensington]

Remember not so many moons and cycles around the sun ago when any human being could drink straight from any river and live a perfectly healthy long life? Children smoking is common in rural Indonesia, China, India, Africa and even South America, though this toddler featured here probably breaks the record. Rather than dying young, they're most likely to build up immunity to adverse effect of nicotine provided they also have other essential nutrition in place. Trouble is, building up immunity to an addictive substance such as nicotine most likely entails lifelong addiction.

Those were street kids and half their lives probably spent on the run and eeking out an existence thus keeping fit but this montrosity is so young and chubby, he probably has a coronary by now.

 

[kensington]

Remember those Burmese twins ? Luther and Johnny Htoo of the God's Army ?

They were chomping on cigars then, hahaha... Whatever the hell happened to them ?

 

[Ramseth]

Those were street kids and half their lives probably spent on the run and eeking out an existence thus keeping fit but this montrosity is so young and chubby, he probably has a coronary by now.

True, true. Street and farm kids picked up smoking themselves. It's obvious that this toddler isn't capable of that and is "fed" with cigarettes.

 

[bodycells]

This kid looks damn cool while smoking. He will have bad breath his whole life.

 

[Guile]

Smoking toddler cuts back


Jun 8, 2010
Smoking toddler cuts back

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Two-year-old Ardi Rizal shocked the world when a video of him smoking a cigarette appeared on the Internet last month and drew attention to Indonesia's failure to regulate the tobacco industry. -- PHOTO: AFP

JAKARTA - A CHAIN-SMOKING Indonesian toddler has cut back to 15 cigarettes a day thanks to 'therapy focused on playing,' a child welfare official said on Tuesday.Two-year-old Ardi Rizal shocked the world when a video of him smoking a cigarette appeared on the Internet last month and drew attention to Indonesia's failure to regulate the tobacco industry. Six months after his father gave him his first cigarette, the overweight boy from Sumatra island was smoking 40 a day and threw violent tantrums if his addiction was not satisfied.

Child welfare officials called in to try to wean the toddler off cigarettes said that when they played with him he did not smoke as much. 'The boy has been able to reduce his cigarette intake significantly, very quickly, after the treatment,' National Commission for Child Protection chairman Seto Mulyadi told AFP. 'The therapy focused on playing - we occupied him with toys so that he forgets cigarettes,' he said.

Ardi developed his nicotine addiction while spending his days at a traditional market where both of his parents worked, Mr Mulyadi said. Simple toys and someone to play with were enough to take his mind off cigarettes, at least for a while. The therapists also encouraged Ardi to associate cigarettes with bad things. 'The boy likes singing songs so we tell him that if he continues smoking, he won't be able to be a singer one day, and it works,' Mr Mulyadi said. 'It's much easier to help kids like him than teenage tobacco addicts.'

Ardi's case has highlighted the tobacco industry's aggressive marketing to women and children in developing countries like Indonesia, where regulations are weak and many people do not know that smoking is dangerous. Cigarette consumption in the South-east Asian archipelago of some 240 million people soared 47 per cent in the 1990s, according to the World Health Organisation. Indonesia's biggest cigarette manufacturer, PT HM Sampoerna, is an affiliate of Philip Morris International. -- AFP