Nervousness over the economy is sending Americans straight to the pantry, with four out of 10 workers reporting a weight gain, according to a CareerBuilder.com survey.

Of 4,435 workers responding between Feb. 20 and March 11 to a CareerBuilder.com survey, a quarter said they had gained more than 10 pounds, and 12 percent said they gained more than 20 pounds.

Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder.com’s vice president of human resources, said it was in part a reaction to today’s economic stress as well as poor eating habits.

One of the culprits? A snack attack. Over two-thirds of those responding said they had a snack at least once a day; 24 percent snacked twice a day.

This finding runs counter to the message from Dr. Stephen Bezruchka of the University of Washington, who recently noted that death rates in America tend to drop during economic hard times. He says mortality data going back to before the Great Depression shows that health outcomes are better during economic busts rather than during booms. Other research has shown that smoking rates, drinking and obesity increase during times of prosperity.