20-month-old Indonesian toddler puffs half pack of cigarettes a day
A 20-month-old boy in Indonesia has been addicted to cigarettes and smokes a half pack a day, a media report said.
The toddler's father Deli Kusnadi was reported as saying Reno Ardiansyah has been smoking since he was 14 months old. He doesn't know who first introduced his son to smoking.
"If he doesn't get any cigarettes, he will cry," the 34-year-old father was quoted as saying by The Sriwijaya Post, based in South Sumatra Province capital Palembang.
Ardiansyah, who lives in a hamlet, looks like an normal child.
He plays and runs around with other children. But a cigarette can turn his attention away.
Kusnadi is worried about his son's habit, but said he does not have any money to bring him to hospital for a medical check up.
"People say it's very costly," he said.
Ardiansyah is not the first Indonesian toddler addicted to cigarettes.
Earlier this year, 2-year-old Ardi Rizal, also from South Sumatra, shocked the world when a video of him smoking a cigarette appeared on the Internet.
And 4-year-old Adi from East Java Province was made infamous by another YouTube video.
But Rizal and Adi have kicked their addiction to smoking following a rehabilitation programme involving psychologists and doctors.
Anti-tobacco advocates have been critical of Indonesia's vast tobacco industry, claiming cigarette advertisements target children.
