The Indonesian toddler pitches a fit if he isn't allowed to light up, his mother said.
A 2-year-old boy in Indonesia has a 40-cigarette-a-day habit and the internet is fuming.
Rapi Ananda Pamungkas became the target of a burning controversy on social media after video of him puffing away was posted online.
His mother, Maryati, said he pitches a fit if he isn't allowed to light up, telling Caters News Agency she would relent and buy him smokes to keep him from throwing a tantrum.
Health official recently visited the woman and told her she must get her son to stop cold turkey.
"The health department told me it can't go on, but how can I change what he likes?" she said. "When I'm working he walks alone and finds them on the street."
The mom operates a stall in West Java and when she's busy, Rapi wanders around the market, picking up cigarette butts, she said.
Nonetheless, she said, she has been able to get him to cut down and to pay more attention to childlike activities, such as playing with his toys.
Indonesia has one of the highest rates of smoking in the world and a longstanding problem of children smoking, with an estimated 9 percent of those under 18 constituting regular smokers.
RELATED STORIES
