Smoking baby Ardi Rizal has kicked the habit: 2-year-old who once had 40 cigs a day has quit BY CORKY SIEMASZKO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, September 02, 2010
A 2-year-old Indonesian boy whose chain-smoking had much of the world fuming has kicked the habit.
Ardi Rizal, who once burned through 40 cigarettes a day, underwent therapy and now has a new addiction.
"We diverted his addiction from cigarettes to playing," Indonesia's secretary-general, Arist Merdeka Sirait, told AFP.
Ardi, who lives in the province of Sumatra, could use the playtime - and the exercise. He weighs nearly 60 pounds and is so fat he gets around on a plastic toy truck.
The tubby toddler got hooked on cigs when his father gave him a smoke to keep him quiet. One cigarette led to another and soon Ardi was throwing tantrums if he didn't get his tobacco fix.
Ardi's clueless pop didn't try to cut him off until after footage of his son smoking hit the Web in May and caused a worldwide uproar. Even then, he didn't quite get it.
"He looks pretty healthy to me," Ardi's dopey dad, Mohammed, said at the time. "I don't see the problem."
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