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.
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.’ Mr and
Mrs Rizal decided to take Aldi to a nutritionist for medical checks and
now they’ve been given advice on how to put him on a healthier diet so
he can start to lose some weight.’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. ‘I think it is difficult for
them. The mother says Aldi is a spoilt kid. If Diana wants to forbid him
eating, it will be hard.
‘She will need the cooperation from the entire household. One obvious
thing is they let him have too much condensed milk. He drinks three
cans a day and eats too many carbohydrates.’ Paediatric specialist Dr
William Nawawi is also concerned that smoking at an early age has made
Aldi more likely to suffer weight issues. He explained: ‘Nicotine can
increase the endocrine hormone in the body. This condition can cause
resistance to insulin.
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