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.’
‘Now I don’t give him cigarettes, but he eats a lot. With so many people living in the house it’s hard to stop him from getting food.’
‘I feel happy when people want to speak to him because the know him,’ admitted Mrs Rizal.’But I feel annoyed when they refer to him as ‘the smoking kid’. It makes me feel like they are accusing me of being a bad parent.’
‘Aldi is very overweight, his weight doesn’t match his age,’ said nutritionist Fransisca Dewi. ‘His ideal weight is 17kg to 19kg. He’s 24kg already.
Doctors hope that if Aldi can lose around half a stone to a stone, his weight will eventually even out as he starts to grow taller.
It is thought one-third of children in Indonesia try smoking before the age of ten. The Government has launched efforts to tackle the problem.
Adapted from DailyMail
