Officials in India’s southern state of Kerala have placed a tax on hamburgers, pizza and other fast food. The 14.5 percent tax will be added to foods at restaurants such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King. The tax is being called a “fat tax” because it adds cost to foods considered high in fat and calories. It is the first fast food tax enacted in India, where obesity levels are rising in the growing middle class. Kerala’s Finance Minister Thomas Isaac proposed the tax after learning of similar measures in other countries. He hopes it will get people to choose to eat healthy food, which he said is “going out of fashion.” Dr. Anoop Misra heads the Center for Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol at New Delhi’s Fortis Hospital. He strongly supports the “fat tax” as a way to reduce the number of diabetes cases in young people.