Cigarette-smoking toddler gives up and now addicted to food

• Posted on November 18, 2013November 18, 2013
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

At the age of two he shocked the world after being pictured chain-smoking cigarettes.

Two years on he’s now a normal, cheeky five-year-old – and, while he’s managed to kick the habit, he now has another addiction. Food.

Aldi Rizal became an international media sensation when he was discovered in a poor village in Sumatra, Indonesia, puffing on a cigarette while riding his tricycle.

The outcry led to the Indonesian government launching a campaign to tackle the problem of children smoking and organising special rehabilitation treatment to help Aldi quit.

Aldi was taken for play therapy sessions in the capital Jakarta for two weeks to take his mind off his 40-a-day habit and learn to be a normal toddler for the first time.

A new documentary series revisits the family two years on to find out how Aldi is getting on and reveals he has managed to stay off the cigarettes, but is still dangerously unhealthy.

During his rehabilitation treatment, Aldi saw psychiatrists who encouraged his mother to keep him busy with playing and taught her about the dangers of smoking.

One of them – Dr Kak Seto – still sees Aldi and his family at regular intervals to ensure he is not falling back into old habits.

His mother Diane Rizal, 28, said: ‘There are many people still offering Aldi cigarettes, but Aldi no. He says “I love Kak Seto. He would be sad if I started smoking again and made myself ill.”

‘At first when we were weaning Aldi off the cigarettes he would have terrible tantrums and I would call Dr Seto for help.

‘But now he doesn’t want them.’

However, Mrs Rizal is now worried about her son’s weight, as he developed food cravings while quitting smoking, and now has a big appetite.

Mrs Rizal said the strong-willed little boy now demands food in the same way he used to beg for cigarettes, and the family struggles not to give in to his tantrums.

Mrs Rizal said: ‘When Aldi first quit smoking he would demand a lot of toys.

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