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Child protection commission to investigate viral video of paper-eating toddler
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Disorder: A video of a toddler eating paper has spurred an investigation by the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI). (JP/Hengky Wijaya)
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viral video showing a toddler eating paper has spurred an investigation by the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI). The video, which gained traction in the news on Tuesday, shows a young boy tearing up pieces of paper and eating them while two adults comment on the strangeness of the situation.
The boy’s mother Pipit, 34, told Tribunnews on Wednesday that her son had started his strange eating habits when he was a year old.
The boy, now 3, didn’t start out eating paper.
“First [he started eating] new flip-flops,” Pipit is seen saying in a video from Radio Dakta.
Pipit also told detiknews that in the beginning, she would buy five pairs of flip-flips a month to satiate her son.
Currently, Pipit said her son preferred eating paper and she that had bought him a specific book from which he could tear up paper to snack on.
“Now he routinely eats [paper]. He doesn’t want to eat flip-flops anymore as they are old. He usually eats nicer things that are clean,” Pipit told Tribunnews.
Pipit said her son also ate other non-edible items such as Styrofoam and cardboard.
“If I don’t let him, he cries and gets angry,” Pipit told an MNC Group reporter, adding that she had tried to stop him but couldn’t bear to hear her son crying.
KPAI chairman Susanto told detiknews the commission would examine the case and emphasized that every child must have their basic needs met, including proper nutrition and food.
“Children must have their basic rights fulfilled as best possible so they may develop properly,” said Susanto.
Susanto declined to explain how the commission plans to handle the situation, adding: “We still need to explore [the case] to determine what steps to take."
