Tokyo, September 12, 2014 – Rakuten, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has provided basal thermometers together with the Rakuten Kirei-do-Navi smartphone-linked body termperature management service to the players of SFIDA Setagaya FC, Tokyo’s biggest women’s football club.
Receiving the package will be the approximately 30 top players in the Challenge League (Nadeshiko second division), aged 17 to 27. SFIDA Setagaya FC has already been encouraging players to manage their monthly cycles to keep track of their personal health. Now, Rakuten Kirei-do-Navi is being offered to all players by the club to enable them to effectively track their hormone balance through basal temperature management, and thereby give them the tools to manage their own health.
For female athletes, managing hormone balance using basal temperature measurement is very important from the perspective of not only maintaining their condition on a daily basis, but in consideration of their playing careers. According to a survey of 683 female athletes by the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS), around 40% reported menstrual cycle irregularities, including the absence of periods. Reasons for this include overly intensive training and weight loss, and there are many cases of period-related premenstrual syndrome, menstrual cramps, and exercise-related missed periods. This can lead to issues including fertility difficulties and reduced bone density. While there is wide recognition of these symptoms, many of the athletes are not doing anything to address them.
Rakuten Kirei-do-Navi is a dedicated app for managing data obtained using a specialist basal thermometer developed by Toshiba, allowing it to be sent to a smartphone at the touch of a button. With just 40 seconds a day needed for taking temperature, and 2-3 seconds for sending the body termperature data, it fits easily into daily routines and enables women to view a graph of their body temperature and track their hormone balance.
By taking into account their own menstrual cycle, basal temperature and hormone balance, female athletes not only invest in their future as competitive athletes, but they invest in their lives as women in terms of future pregnancy and childbirth. While supporting female athletes, Rakuten Kirei-do-Navi will continue to strive to be of service to all women hoping to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.