Family meals can help prevent adolescents from becoming moody and difficult even if they sit in silence, a study finds. Just the act of joining family members at the table makes the youngsters feel valued and has a positive effect on their emotional well being, the report said. The psychiatrists at Canada's ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University studied more than 26,000 children aged between 11 and 15 for the report published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.