Aldi Rizal, then aged two, gained notoriety in for his smoking. He was mistakenly called "Ardi" in the original stories.
In 2010, a YouTube video of an Indonesian toddler who reportedly smoked 40 cigarettes a day shocked health experts in the country. Ardi Rizal from south Sumatra, who is now nine years old, has since been weaned off cigarettes with the Indonesian government's help, according to a Daily Mail report last year.
A two-year-old Chinese boy is thought to be the world's youngest smoker. Tong Liangliang was taught how to light up by his father, who believed the habit would alleviate pain caused by a hernia. The toddler now smokes a pack of cigarettes a day and throws a tantrum if he can't get his fix.
Ardi Rizal was two when he was snapped puffing away at cigarette in his family's backyard in Sumatra, Indonesia. Seven years on and young Ardi looks completely different after shedding pounds and giving up his nasty habits.
Ardi Rizal, from Sumatra, Indonesia, was just a tot when he was shown smashing his head against a wall if he couldn't smoke. The chubby little boy made global headlines when shocking pictures showing him puffing on cigarettes circulated around the world in 2010.
The two-year-old boy who became an international sensation after he was found chain smoking in a remote village has kicked the habit, lost weight and is now the 'champion' of his primary school.
In early May, Fredie Blom's celebrated his 114th birthday, a feat that may make him the world's oldest living man — although official verification is still needed. In a recent interview with the BBC, Blom shared no particular secrets to his longevity and instead confessed to still be a lifetime daily smoker.
Indeed, some of the world's oldest people reach extreme ages while being smokers. The world's documented longest-living person, Jeanne Calment, was a smoker for most of her life, and another claimant to the title is said to smoke a pack a day.
Is that OK? No. Even one cigarette a week is bad for your health. Each cigarette you smoke exposes you to nicotine and other harmful chemicals and increases your risk for heart disease and cancer.
Quit Smoking
Cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence causes significant health problems among young people, including an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness and potential effects on lung growth and function.
Cigarettes don't expire, but they do go stale. Check your cigarettes for a dull smell or bitter taste to see if they're stale.
However, just because cigarettes don't contain an expiration date on their packaging doesn't mean they'll never go bad. While smoking expired cigarettes isn't really any worse for you than smoking new ones, time and oxygen exposure can negatively impact the flavor and freshness of your cigarettes.
Lung and Other Cancers
For daily smokers (> 20 cig/day), the risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher in men and about 13 times higher in women than nonsmokers (1).
Smoking baby Ardi Rizal has kicked the habit: 2-year-old who once had 40 cigs a day has quit. 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.
But with others making it to 100 despite their smoking and drinking, scientists have long suspected it could be something in the genes that decides who lives long and who dies young. New research in Japan has found such a genetic link.
The genetic sequences identified in healthy older smokers may have a protective effect, which is why they have survived despite the significant ill effects of their habit.
While drinking can be a threat to your health, smoking is certainly worse. Unlike alcohol at low or moderate levels, there is no benefit to tobacco use at any level. When you smoke, you inhale various chemicals that can injure cells, causing both cancer and artery damage (e.g. heart attacks and strokes).
The countries with the fewest smokers are Sweden (9.3 per cent), Iceland (11.2 per cent), Finland (12.5 per cent), Norway (12.9 per cent) and Luxembourg (13.5 per cent).
Background: Heavy smokers (those who smoke greater than or equal to 25 or more cigarettes a day) are a subgroup who place themselves and others at risk for harmful health consequences and also are those least likely to achieve cessation.
On the other hand, roughly a quarter of the countries have some of the lowest percentages of daily smokers. These are eleven nations, led by Iceland at the bottom with 7.2% of people smoking daily and Sweden at the top with 9.5%.
Nicotine exposure during the teenage years can harm brain development, which continues until about age 25. It can impact learning, memory and attention, and increase risk for future addiction to other drugs. Young people who use e-cigarettes may be more likely to go on to use regular cigarettes.
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Sumatra: Aldi Rizal is known around the world as "Indonesia's smoking baby".