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It is often considered a convenient excuse for people to overeat and gain weight.

According to Daily Mail, new research suggests that food addictions could be more than just an excuse for an extra biscuit.

Scientists found that women who are overweight are more instinctively stimulated by images of food.

They also discovered these women tend to have less willpower.

The researchers, from the University of Luxembourg, say some of the women they studied also reported experiencing food cravings shortly after eating - suggesting a possible food addiction.

Claus Voegele, Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology, said: ‘All addictions are similar in that the sufferer craves to excess the feel-good buzz they receive from chemical neurotransmitters produced when they eat, gamble, smoke, have sex or take drugs.’

Tests were run either three hours after eating or just after meals and involved the study authors flashing up images at random on a computer screen. Some were of fatty or sugary foods while others were of non-food items.

The women were asked to click as fast as possible on the pictures - and it emerged that women with weight problems were slower than average.

Several of the overweight women also said the test had provoked food craving, regardless of how recently they had eaten.

‘This suggests that some people may have an instinctive, psychological predisposition to binge eating,’ Professor Voegele said.

However, he added that other research indicates that both nature and nurture can play a role in overeating.

He said: ‘People may over-eat to comfort themselves, because they are bored or just out of habit.’