Seto Mulyadi concerned over child smoker phenomenon
Antara News, Sunday, June 6, 2010 03:05 WIB
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Former chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection, Seto Mulyadi, has expressed concern over the phenomenon of toddlers developing the cigarette smoking habit and the lack of public worry about it.
In his written statement received by ANTARA here on Saturday, he said the phenomena was indeed not an ideal reflection of parents or families which are supposed to protect children from cigarette smoking which could affect their right to live and grow.
As recently reported in the media, a number of cases of below five year old children smoking cigarettes have been found in the country, he said, referring among others to a four-year old child smoker in Malang, East Java, and a two-year old child smoker in Teluk Kemang, Munyi, Banyu Asin, South Sumatra.
The two-year old child in South Sumatra was even reported able to smoke 40 cigarettes a day.
Mulyadi said he believed this had happened because their families and adults living around them had been very permissive and ignored the danger of cigarette smoking.
He said cigarette smoke had long been known as containing thousands of substances that could disrupt lung and intelligence development in children, cause infection of respiratory channels, ears and asthma.
Mulyadi said in the past four years the prevalence of smoking children has risen by 400 percent.
Ardi Rizal, a two year old from Sumatra puffs his way through two pack of cigarettes per day. (Photo courtesy SCTV)
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