This shocking video shows a toddler being coaxed into smoking cigarettes and drinking beer by her teenage parents as she desperately tries to stay awake.

The 17 and 18-year-old parents were arrested at their home in Formosa in north-central Argentina after the video was shared on social media.

According to both parents the video was made as a joke and they claimed they had not really given the child alcohol or cigarettes.

However, the footage shows the toddler swaying, apparently intoxicated, and the video ends with the child nearly falling over after appearing to briefly pass out, before her mother rushes to catch her.

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The parents have also been accused of giving the girl cannabis to smoke, according to reports.

Staff from the Police Investigation Brigade, the Secretariat of the Ministry of Childhood and authorities of the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office intervened and took the child away from the parents.

The young girl is now in the temporary care of her grandmother.

Her mother may be tried in the juvenile justice system as, aged 17, she is still a minor. Her current legal status and that of the girl's father were not reported.

Netizens were quick to express their disgust, with 'Gabby Gomez' posting: "They deserve the worst! Poor princess. They do not deserve to be parents. That small angel."

"Natalia Sosa' added: 'Parents? They are not parents, anyone can have children but that does not make them parents."