Ardi Rizal: Here's what the chain-smoking toddler looks like after quitting cigarettes

In 2010, the bizarre story of a 2-year-old child was making waves on the Internet. The child has been referred to by different names by the media, spanning from Ardi Rizal to Aldi Rizal, and also Aldi Suganda, but he is most commonly known as Ardi.

He became famous for something that set him far apart from all the other kids at nursery school: he was a smoker. That may be a slight understatement: he was known for chain-smoking 40 cigarettes a day. Addicted to nicotine, Ardi would have tamper tantrums when he didn't get his daily dose.

According to the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, over 40% of Indonesian students between the ages of 13 and 15 have consumed tobacco in some shape or form. Furthermore, the country has one of the highest rates of underage smoking in the world.

In Ardi's case, his first cigarette was given to him when he was just 18 months old.

Quitting smoking led to another problem

Thankfully, the young lad found a way to kick the habit back in 2012. However, he soon replaced one vice with another.Instead of tobacco, Ardi turned his attention to food. His mother Diane told Daily Mail in 2013:

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.

His diet consisted of eating three cans of concentrated milk daily. Ardi weighed 24 kilos while his peers typically weighed about 18 kilos.

Read more:

⋙ Smoking: Women who quit during pregnancy can still harm their babies

⋙ Smokers photographed alongside their non-smoking twins

Ardi got the help he needed from the

It was with the help of government intervention, a nutritionist, and intensive specialist care that Ardi was able to turn his life around with smoking and his diet.

He adopted a special diet consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables in the hopes of slimming down to match the size of his peers. In an interview with CNN in 2017 he said:

It was hard for me to stop. If I am not smoking, my mouth taste is sour and my head feel dizzy.

I am happy now. I feel more enthusiastic, and my body is feeling fresh.

As for what Ardi Rizal is up to now, the internet has no idea. The sensation has been living a very mysterious life since he last spoke to CNN in 2017 at the age of 8.

Read more: Lung cancer: This tea, equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes, triples risk

Sources used:

CNN: 'Chain-smoking children: Indonesia’s ongoing tobacco epidemic'

The Sun: 'KICKED THE HABIT: I was the world’s chubbiest toddler who chain-smoked 40 A DAY – I gorged on food when I quit but now I’m unrecognisable'

UNICEF: 'Loud and clear: Youth call for a tobacco-free future'

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