The mayor of the Indonesian city of Tangerang has claimed milk formula and instant noodles can make babies gay.

Arief R Wismansyah made the comments at a city-run pregnancy seminar on Tuesday (24 February).

‘To create Indonesian children that are healthy smart and competitive, the most important thing is, from the beginning, to provide them adequate nutrition, especially breastfeeding,’ he was quoted as saying by Coconuts Jakarta.

Wismansyah said nowadays parents were so busy that they often only fed their children formula and instant foods, which could have a permanent negative effect on their child’s development.

‘So, it’s no wonder that recently there are more LGBT,’ he said.

Wismansyah’s claim is the most recent in a spate of anti-gay rhetoric in the Southeast Asian country.

Earlier this week, Indonesia’s defense minister said the LGBTI movement was more dangerous than nuclear warfare.

And in January, the minister of research, technology and higher education called for LGBTI students to be banned from universities.

Gay sex is not a crime in Indonesia, except in Sharia-ruled Aceh province, but remains taboo in many parts the Muslim-majority country.