OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of stress perceived by software professionals. To study the correlation of stress and body mass index and blood pressure, and to study the impact of demographic factors like age, gender, marital status, work experience, type of job on stress. MATERIALS & METHODS: This cross sectional study included 155 participants working in software companies across Karnataka. Data about stress was collected using perceived stress scale. Body mass index was calculated from the recorded Height & weight of the participants. Their resting blood pressure was recorded. At the outset, all the participants were explained the purpose, procedure and the confidentiality prior to their written informed consent. Institutional ethical committee clearance was obtained before commencement of the study. Statistical analysis was done using Pearson’s chi square test, correlation coefficient& descriptive one way analysis of variance. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Among the obese employees, PSS analysis showed 16.2% participants had high stress level and 62% showed moderate level stress. PSS scores in overweight group (n=24) were higher compared with normal (n=111) BMI group (19.58±5.01vs16.01±4.70) (p<0.05). PSS score showed highly significant (p <0.01) increase in > 30 years age group (n=44) compared to 20-25age group (n=43) and 26-30 age groups (n=68) (18.86±5.91 vs 16.721±5.70 vs 15.63±4). There was no significant difference in PSS scores of males and female subjects. Based on work experience employees with >10yrs experience (n=28) showed highly significant increase (p<0.01) in PSS score compared to 0-5 years (n=79) and 6-10 years groups (n=48) (20±5.91 vs 16.42±5.33 vs 15.69±4.58) whereas type of job did not show any significant difference. The mean value of systolic and diastolic blood pressure of highly stressed individuals was significantly (p<0.01) higher than mildly stressed (140± 6.72 vs 128±8.22 and88±4.50 vs 80±7.52). CONCLUSION: In the present study, among Obese subject, about 70 % of them were either moderately stressed or highly stressed which confirms the earlier reports that stress had been associated with obesity-related behaviors among adults. (1,2) In our study, a correlation could be seen in the PSS scale and Systolic blood pressure.(3,4) Thus our study showed a definite association of psychological stress with obesity and blood pressure.(5) The level of stress increased with age and work experience. We conclude that work place stress appears to rise on an alarming rate in the Indian scenario. Promoting healthy eating habits and adapting an exercise regime, relaxation techniques may help to control obesity. KEYWORDS: body mass index, blood pressure, obesity, perceived stress scale, software professional.