Cute 2-year-old boy shocks everyone with his unhealthy habit

A 2-year-old Indonesian toddler was captured on video smoking cigarettes as his mother sat next to him appearing nonchalant and smiling. The internet was outraged.

The boy reportedly has a 40-a-day habit which began when he started picking up cigarette butts on the street.

The 35-year-old mother, Maryati, said he would throw a tantrum when she took them away so she purchased packs to stop the fits of crying.

She runs a market stall in Suabumi, West Java, and is still finding it difficult to stop the boy from collecting the cigarettes.

But authorities warned her about the boy's damaging habit. Follow us on Twitter for more @amomama_usa.

Health officials advised Maryati to make her son stop smoking cold turkey. Netizens would find it hard to digest the excuse that Maryati gave in response:

"The health department told me it can't go on, but how can I change what he likes?"

She explained, "When I'm working he walks alone and finds them on the street." Fortunately, she has managed some progress. She said:

"Rapi has stopped smoking now and plays more with his toys. I am very happy."

Rapi is the youngest of Maryati's six children. The baby is usually the spoiled one, and Maryati confirms this.

She said he was accustomed to getting what he wanted through tears and tantrums.

Giving in to his behavior, Maryati recently dealt with worrying symptoms such as fever which had "never happened before."

The possibility of much more serious damage is also possible if Rapi keeps up his smoking.

According to Colin Mendelsohn, Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales' School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Sydney, Australia, Rapi's habit could cause "permanent problems with brain functioning, emotional development, and other cognitive functions."

Indonesia currently has one of the highest rates of smoking per population and an increasing number of child smokers.