Child with 40-a-day smoking habit he picked up aged two transforms lifestyle after ditching junk food addiction

 Photos of little Ardi Rizal, nine, smoking at age two shocked the world Photo:mirror

A two-year-old baby who shocked the world with his 40-a-day smoking habit has transformed his lifestyle at age nine - after now ditching his junk food addiction .

Pictures of Indonesian toddler Ardi Rizal chainsmoking back in 2010 - when he was seen puffing away while riding his little toy truck - gained headlines worlwide.

It soon emerged that his father had given him his first cigarette when he was only 18-months-old - and the little lad would have tantrums if his addiction wasn't fed.

The ensuing outrage prompted a number of organisations to intervene - and little Ardi has since managed to kick the habit and turn his life around.

But it's been far from easy for him - as he developed an addiction to junk food by age five which replaced his nicotine habit and led him to pile on the weight.

 Nobody could believe that anyone would let a child that young smoke in the first place

Indeed, at the age of five he weighed something approaching FOUR STONE - way above normal for a child his age.

Thankfully - as the latest pictures reveal - he has managed to shift the extra pounds that he put on during that period in his short but troubled life so far.

Ardi, who lives in a remote village in Sumatra, has been the subject of intensive specialist care after the government intervened.

His parents were able to get him off the cigarettes - only for it to be replaced by food.

Four years ago his mum said: “At first when we were weaning Ardi off the cigarettes he would have terrible tantrums. But he doesn’t want them now.”

His parents and the community he lives in were investigated by Indonesia’s Woman’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry - but little Ardi was allowed to continue living with them and they sought the help of a nutritionist.

He has been restricted to a diet consisting of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables - when at one point he consumed three cans of condensed milk a day.

And he is now said to be an addiction-free nine-year-old - and excelling at school.