How much we fart in a day, according to science and which age group is the gassiest

This study’s a stinker.Researchers decided to find out how frequently we fart in a day, counting the gas passed by 6,400 people across Australia — and collecting data on all 360,192 of their toots.Given how flatulence can give us insight into gut health, it’s surprising how little we know about the line between what’s good and what’s excessive, researchers say.Scientists had to solve a problem: How do you count farts?This year, researchers at the University of Maryland created Smart Underwear, a small device that snaps onto underwear and sensors track farts automatically.There was also the option to insert something into the bum to measure gas getting built up.The problem there is people often hold it to release in a more socially acceptable place.So, an Australian team came up with a solution: they call it “Chart Your Fart.”They gave participants an smart phone app where they could log their toots as soon after it’s released as possible.

The app was designed to be discrete so everyone around participants wouldn’t be clued in to their flatulence habits.All sorts of people joined the study, from ages 14 and up.The only people who weren’t considered were those who recently made a major diet change, which could cause abnormal farting.On average, people fart 5 times a day, the study showed.

The median — meaning the middle number of a graph — was slightly lower (3.8 farts a day), which means there was a subset of very gassy people driving up the average.This is true across demographics: men, women, young, old — a few folks passed gas significantly more than the rest in the group, making the average at least 1 higher a day than the median.A vast majority (79.3%) recorded between 2 and 7 farts a day.Men recorded more farts than women: 5.2 vs.4.8 a day, on average.

The youngest (age 14-25) recorded the least farts at 4.4 on average.Ages 26-45 farted the most, with slightly more than 5 a day.But the next group, 46-65 was close at exactly 5 a day...