How many hours do Bismarck and Mandan families spend watching TV instead of walking outside or doing other activities?

The Weactivate Challenge seeks this answer in a 20-week event starting Nov. 14 to get citizens to track their time as they do different things.

"It causes you to face reality and look at what are your goals,"said YMCA director Bill Bauman.

The goal is to get people spending more time physically active by noticing how much time they do more sedentary things, like watching TV and using the computer. But work- and school-related TV and computer time doesn't count toward the tally, said Nicole Morrison-Mathern, Activate Bismarck Mandan volunteer.

The challenge is sponsored by Activate Bismarck Mandan. It is a community initiative to get adults and children active and it promotes healthier lifestyles.

"It's a catalyst for things in the community,"Bauman said.

People have one week to register for the event, starting Monday, and continuing through Nov. 13. Registration for the challenge is free and lets people log their progress online and be eligible for special events and prizes for Weactivate Challenge participants. The Web site to sign up is www.weactivate.com.

People who do not have computer access can sign up by contacting the YMCA, one of the organizers of the event, and they can participate by filling out a paper log and turning it in to event organizers.

The challenge will give participants ideas for getting active, besides the run-of-the-mill organized sports like soccer and football. Participants will receive an e-mail with recommendations, such as a running scavenger hunt and Frisbee golf, Morrison-Mathern said.

Morrison-Mathern works for iNet Technologies, a Web site development company, one of the sponsors of the community initiative, and she helps run the Web site. The Web site is about a month old, and two of the most popular pages are the events and ideas pages, she said.

The challenge for people to be more active is 30 minutes a day for adults and 60 minutes a day for children, Morrison-Mathern said. If adult participants meet the activity goal, they will complete 50 hours of activity by the end of the event in March, and children will complete 100 hours of activity, she said.

Goals for spending time with family and for television and computer use will be set by the family, Bauman said.

The organizers are planning an event for participants in December. Children in kindergarten through sixth grade who complete the Weactivate Challenge will get a prize. This will be for any child in the Bismarck and Mandan area, not just limited to the four schools participating in the Activate Bismarck Mandan partnerships, Bauman said.

For more information about the challenge or the initiative, visit the Web site at www.weactivate.com or call the YMCAat 255-1525.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)