Boy (8) smokes around 25 cigarettes a day

An eight-year-old Indonesian, Adi Ilham has grabbed the world's attention with his 25-a-day smoking habit.

The young boy's habit was allowed to spiral as there are no age restrictions on purchasing cigarettes in the country, while his poor family have little awareness of the health risks involved.

Ilham said his mother, Nenah, gives him a small amount of money that he spends entirely on his smoking habit.

"My mother gives me 5,000 rupiah," he said, and, when asked if all the money was spent on cigarettes, he nodded.

Ilham's mother revealed that he no longer attends school as teachers do not allow him to smoke in class. She said the eight-year-old is liable to fits of rage if he is not allowed to light up. "I have to let him smoke, otherwise he will get mad. He smashed the windows five times because I told him he could not smoke," she said.

Government statistics show that in Indonesia, cigarettes account for the second-largest household expenditure, after food. Nearly one in three people in Indonesia smoke, in a population of 239 million. In another case, a two-year-old boy who smoked about 40 cigarettes a day managed to kick the habit after he received intensive specialist care in 2010.

Head of the Indonesian Child Protection Committee, Maria Ulfah Anshor, said the government is to blame for the lack of regulations preventing young people from starting to smoke. daily times monitor